WeWork India appoints new CFO, General Counsel

Co-working major WeWork India on Friday said it has appointed Clifford Lobo as Chief Financial Officer(CFO). It has also appointed Hiranmai Rallabandi as General Counsel while Santosh Martin has been elevated to Head of Sales. "Clifford Lobo has been appointed the new CFO at WeWork India...Hiranmai Rallabandi joins as The General Counsel of WeWork India," the company said in a statement. WeWork India said the strategic appointments have been made to the India leadership team for sustainable growth. In his new role, Clifford will be responsible for working through partnerships and merger and acquisition (M&A) to drive business growth and profitability for the business, it said

Before joining WeWork India, Clifford played an operations role at ESPN India, managing commercial and product innovation aside from finance, controllers, tax, and administrative responsibilities. Hiranmai joins WeWork with over 20 years of experience at various important positions in corporate & real estate laws, cross-border M&A, labour relations, litigations, policy-making and risk & compliance of companies. Prior to WeWork, Hiranmai worked with companies like Cushman & Wakefield, Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd, and law firms like SN Gupta & Co. and Virmani & Virmani

With over 20 years of experience, Martin has previously worked with firms such as Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) and DivyaSree Developers. "The flexible workspace industry in India has displayed resilience and growth even during challenging times," Karan Virwani, CEO WeWork India said. "In this time, we have seen a new opportunity that suits our members' evolving needs driven by an acceleration towards variable real estate costs, the confidence of safe and well-managed workspaces for their employees, and the growth opportunities that are intrinsic to the WeWork community," he said. As of Q1 2020, WeWork Global has 828 locations in over 149 cities and 38 countries. WeWork India, which is owned by Bengaluru-based realty firm Embassy Group, has 34 centres comprising 60,000 desks across six major cities. In 2017, WeWork Global had partnered with Embassy Group to enter Indian market. Earlier this year, WeWork Global invested USD 100 million in WeWork India through debentures. WeWork Global will have 20 per cent stake in WeWork India post conversion of these debentures.