IWG merges digital assets with The Instant Group

IWG announced the merger of its digital assets with The Instant Group with a view to listing the business in the next two years.

Posting improved annual results, the flexible workspace provider said it would invest £270m net cash to buy shares from selling owners and provide growth capital with Instant Group management contributing £50m.

IWG said the deal would form a leading fully integrated workspace platform. Instant Group, which is not publicly traded, operates in 18 countries including in Europe the Americas and Asia.

Instant's management team will run the business and the merged group will probably be spun out in a US or UK listing by the end of 2023, IWG said. The business will offer virtual offices, meeting rooms, flexible workspace and managed offices.

IWG shares rose 12.6% to 261.70p at 08:36 GMT.

IWG Chief Executive Mark Dixon said: "It's a fantastic investment behind a world-class management team, positioning IWG to be a market leader in the digital-led future of workplace platforms. This creates a clear path for value creation and will harness the next generation of digital-native workers."

IWG reported a pretax loss from continuing operations of £259.4m for the year to the end of December compared with a £613.3m loss a year earlier as system-wide revenue dropped 4.2% at constant currency to £2.5bn. The company said it had a strong end to 2021 and excellent momentum in the first quarter of the current year.