Office-sharing company WeWork, which had a spectacular failed IPO attempt in 2019 and is now planning to hit public markets via a merger with a special purpose acquisition corporation (SPAC), offered a business update on Monday and said total occupancy stood at 53% as of May, up three percentage points from March. "As vaccine distribution expands, global restrictions ease, and companies begin to action their hybrid return-to-work strategies, WeWork continues to see an improvement in leading indicators such as desk sales, churn rates and occupancy across its portfolio," the company said in a statement. WeWork was hit especially hard by the coronavirus pandemic as most workers started working from home and demand for its service evaporated. The company's real estate portfolio now comprises 767 locations across 38 countries, supporting 947,000 work stations and 505,000 total memberships. Gross desk sales came to about 39,000 in May, up from 33,000 in April. That is equal to about 4.3 million square feet of signed space in the quarter to date, marking the best two-month performance since September of 2019. The company continued to work to optimize its real estate portfolio and cost structure through lease amendments and building exits. Its IPO documents in 2019 showed it had about $50 billion in long-term leases, most without early termination provisions. "Since March, the company has completed an additional 17 exits and 51 amendments and expects to be substantially complete with its optimization efforts by the end of June," said the statement.