Bombay HC dismisses 2 writ petitions seeking to derail WeWork India’s IPO

Mumbai, Dec 03

The Bombay High Court has firmly dismissed two last-minute writ petitions that sought to derail WeWork India’s Initial Public Offering, validating the completeness and compliance of its Offer Documents with SEBI ICDR Regulations. The Court has conclusively recognised that the company’s Red Herring Prospectus contained all material, true and adequate disclosures for investors.

“We are gratified that the Hon’ble Court has affirmed our IPO’s adherence to Regulation 6(2) of the ICDR Regulations and has meticulously rejected the petitioners’ allegations, confirming that all significant risk factors were appropriately and transparently disclosed,” a spokesperson from WeWork told Bizz Buzz.

The petitions, by two individuals who were not investors in the IPO, were filed on 30 September 2025 – just one day before the offer opened – despite the draft prospectus being publicly available for eight months. The fact that these claimed retail investors engaged multiple senior counsels of high stature, at substantial cost, alongside an unexplained eleventh-hour approach and the absence of any actual subscription stake, underscores the tactical and motivated nature of these proceedings.

The Court’s detailed analysis has, however, revealed a deeply troubling aspect of these petitions. It found that one petitioner deliberately suppressed material facts, including the receipt of detailed responses to his complaints from both WeWork India and the Book Running Lead Managers. As the Court noted, this critical information was not disclosed even to his own senior counsel, who subsequently offered a profound apology to the Court. The Court has explicitly held that this amounted to approaching the Court with “unclean hands”, a finding that led to the dismissal of that petition with costs of Rs 1 lakh.

This pattern of suppression, failure to disclose the sources of their allegations, and the last-minute filing – which the Court noted “casts some doubts on the bona fides of the Petitioners” – collectively underscores a clear intent to mislead the Court and influence public perception in a brazen attempt to sabotage our public listing. Despite these concerted efforts, the IPO received an overwhelming response and was oversubscribed – a testament to the inherent strength of our offering and the market’s informed confidence.

This landmark ruling reinforces the robustness of India’s regulatory framework and protects the interests of legitimate issuers and investors.