IWG shares surge on digital arm sell-off report

Shares in workspace provider IWG surged on Monday on a report that private equity outfit CVC Capital Partners is among a number of buyout firms which have approached the workspace provider about buying its digital arm The Instant Group.

The deal, which could be worth £1.5bn, could trigger a broader break-up of the FTSE-250 company previously known as Regus.

Tim Rodber, The Instant Group's chief executive, had been marketing the business to a number of private equity firms in recent weeks following a string of unsolicited approaches, Sky News reported citing unnamed banking sources.

IWG's shares have more than halved in the last year, reflecting investor concerns about demand for offices during an economic downturn, and IWG's bigger-than-expected half-year loss of £70m, which was announced in August.

Its component parts include Signature, a premium city centre brand, Regus and Basepoint, which operates across England and Wales.

In March, IWG announced that it would merge its digital and technology assets with The Instant Group as part of a transaction which saw the London-listed group injecting £270m of cash into the combined entity.

Last year, IWG held tentative talks with CC Capital, a New York-based private equity firm, about a sale of part or all of the company. In recent years, IWG has adopted a franchise model which has seen it sell assets in countries including Japan and license its brands to new operators.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com