Regus owner Dixon mulls splitting business in two

Service office operator IWG could be split in two as part of a £2.2bn break-up plan, according to reports. Chief executive Mark Dixon is looking at whether he could make a return by splitting off IWG’s property portfolio and creating a separate global franchising business. In August, EG reported that IWG was exploring a sale-and-leaseback of its real estate in order to extract value from the company after interested parties failed to register a formal bid for it. IWG’s management informed Starwood, Terra Firma and TDR that it did not want to continue discussions regarding their possible offers a day before their formal “put up or shut up” deadline was due to expire on 7 August. Last month, Dixon bought £9.86m of shares in the Regus owner. The serviced offices company’s founder and largest shareholder upped his stake in the business from 25% to 26.3% following the aborted takeover talks.   To send feedback, e-mail anna.ward@egi.co.uk or tweet @annaroxelana or @estatesgazette