WeWork Buys Co-Working Startup, First Acquisition Since Neumann

WeWork Inc. is making its first acquisition as a public company — and the first since its current chief executive officer, Sandeep Mathrani, took over from the coworking company’s embattled co-founder, Adam Neumann.

New York-based WeWork agreed to buy Common Desk, a coworking startup with 23 locations in Texas and North Carolina. Common Desk will continue to operate as an independent brand. Most of Common Desk’s locations — 19 out of 23 — operate under management agreements, an arrangement common in the hotel industry that allows the company to run a space and collect a share of rent revenue, without entering into a longer-term traditional lease. WeWork said it is ...