According to people familiar with the matter, Softbank Corp. Group will begin a previously agreed tender offer this week to acquire up to $3 billion worth of shares in WeWork, a shared office company, including $970 million held by its co-founder Adam Neumann.

The offer was originally planned to start earlier this month, but was postponed as Softbank Corp. sought to make technical changes to the acquisition documents, according to sources.

Softbank Corp. will start offering as early as Monday at a previously agreed price of $19.19 a share, these people said.

It was reported last week that Softbank Corp. 's management had been looking for a way to reduce the size of the acquisition, including limiting the amount paid to Neumann. Some Softbank Corp. executives believe that the payment to Neumann is too generous.

There was no discussion between WeWork and Softbank Corp. about changing the terms of the offer, which could expose Softbank Corp. to lawsuits from Neumann and others, according to people familiar with the matter.

The offer is an important part of the $9.5 billion rescue plan for WeWork agreed by Softbank Corp. in October. Softbank Corp. will also provide $6.5 billion in debt and equity financing to the company, which is running out of cash.

This will pave the way for Softbank Corp. to control about 80 per cent of WeWork and is part of an agreement with Mr Neumann that would allow him to relinquish voting control of the company and leave the board.

In addition to the money Neumann could cash out of selling shares, Softbank Corp. offered him a credit line of $500m to help repay his bank loan and paid him a $185 million consulting fee as part of the initial deal. According to sources, Neumann has withdrew about $400m from a $500m credit and is obliged under the terms of the agreement to use any proceeds from the offer to repay Softbank Corp..