By Dietrich Knauth
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Thursday approved WeWork's Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan, allowing the shared office space provider to eliminate $4 billion in debt and turn over the company's equity to a group of lenders and the real estate technology company Yardi Systems.
WeWork took advantage of its bankruptcy to negotiate a significant reduction in future rental costs with its landlords, ultimately reaching agreements to save $8 billion in future rental costs. WeWork canceled leases at about 160 of its 450 locations during the bankruptcy.
WeWork rejected an alternative takeover proposal offered by its co-founder and former CEO Adam Neumann. The company said Neumann did not offer a high enough price to win over WeWork's lenders, who preferred to take an equity stake as part of the bankruptcy deal.
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