Co-working to see higher scrutiny after WeWork fall

Jaeger-LeCoultre, one of the world’s most renowned watch manufactures, that has developed and produced over 1,242 calibres, ranging from ultra-thin movements to the most sophisticated Grand Complications ever since its inception in 1833, will now put up two rare Jaeger-LeCoultre timepieces at the auction— Polaris Memodate at Phillips Geneva in November 2019 and Lucky 13 at Phillips New York in December 2019.

“As these two rare watches from the mid-20th Century demonstrate, every decade has brought fresh ideas and solutions, reflecting the spirit of the times. Among the many changes brought by the 1950s and 60s – represented by each of these watches–were, on one hand, tremendous advances in technology and aerospace, and on the other, the transformation of diving from a challenging pursuit to a widely practised leisure activity,” top company officials said.

This coincides with the iconic timepiece brand identifying India and Indian collectors as one of the fastest growing markets for luxury watches.

Interestingly, as far as JaegerLeCoultre is concerned, India holds a very important place in its heart because it is in India that the idea of the iconic timepieceReverso was born, when a polo player asked for a watch that could resist the toughness of his favorite sport. It also has in its Museum a 1946 Reverso engraved with the insignia of the Rajputana Rifles, the oldest elite rifle regiment in the Indian army, founded just after the World War 1. It also has a 1936 Reverso personalized with an enameled portrait of an Indian lady whose story remains cloaked in mystery but which is a testament to the intrinsic beauty and durability of enamel. The iconic brand is currently present in India via a network of multi brand retail stores in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chandigarh.

“India is as big as a continent automatically makes it an important market for us. We witness a steady growth ...the watch collectors market is also definitely growing and more and more requests for our most exclusive timepieces come from India. Also, we see a growing desire for personalisation: personalising their watch is a unique way for owners to make it their very own,” CEO, Jaeger- Lecoultre, Catherine Renier said.

The fall of WeWork will not have any major impact on the nascent co-working space in India. But investment proposals might get thoroughly vetted, finds industry.

The massive demand for co-working spaces in the country by budding entrepreneurs, tech start-ups and even the big multi-nationals is beyond dispute. Given this growth potential in India, the overall impact of WeWork's troubles on Indian co-working firms may not be significant, said Shobhit Agarwal, MD and CEO, Anarock Capital.

However, WeWork’s India valuation and future expansion plans may not be deeply impacted by the recently jinxed listing plans. Its India operations are a minuscule, single-digit fragment of its global operations, he found.

"Operationally we don't think there is going to be much of an effect in India for the already running location or even the upcoming once. The issue is that of valuation and that might impact on future expansions/growth strategy. India is a large commercial property market and demand for commercial office space continues to be heading northward. The emergence of co-working space has brought services element into the commercial space and services and will remain the key factor of survival for the co-working segment,” said Shantanu Mazumder, Senior Branch Director Bangalore, Knight Frank India. “Yes, but from the investment point of view things will be relooked and only wise business proposition shall move ahead," he added.

As on 2018-end, the total supply of flexible workspaces was anywhere between 7 and 7.5 mn sq ft area and is expected to cross 10 mn sq ft by 2019end. While demand for coworking spaces has seen steep annual growth of 3040 per cent in previous years, trends suggest it may grow by a more moderate 15-20 per cent over the next few years. It had witnessed a 23 per cent growth in Q2 2019 over the preceding quarter across the top 7 cities.

Consolidations are happening co-working as well. It started in 2018 with major acquisitions like One Co. Work acquiring IShareSpace and AltF CoWorking acquiring Noida-based Daftar India etc. This trend will continue.