WeWork to Raise Billions Selling Debt Ahead of IPO

WeWork Cos. has a plan to shore up confidence in its business before it goes public: offer billions of dollars in debt that would fund its growth until it can turn a profit.

The money-losing office-space manager is seeking to raise as much as $3 billion to $4 billion in coming months through a debt facility that could grow as big as $10 billion over the next several years, the people said. This debt offering would be independent of the money WeWork raises in its initial public offering and could even raise more money for the company than the IPO itself.