Three Le.com executives resign as company faces over RMB 3 billion in debts
Three executives of cash-strapped Leshi Internet (Le.com) have resigned, including its general manager, Liu Shuqing.
Liu’s reason for leaving is to “adjust personal work plans,” while deputy general manager Yuan Bin and board director Li Yuhao resigned for “personal reasons.” Liu will retain her position as chairwoman of the board, according to an official disclosure posted on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange website on Friday.
On Thursday, Zhang Wei officially replaced Liu as Le.com’s general manager, an appointment that is planned to last three years.
Liu was only appointed GM last December. She also stepped in as Le.com’s acting chairwoman in March after the founder of the company’s biggest shareholder, property developer Sunac China, vacated the spot.
Before joining Le.com Liu had over a decade’s worth of work experience at various Sunac businesses.
Leshi said the three executives’ resignations “will not affect the company’s daily operations and management.” However, Liu’s partial departure raises questions about Leshi’s relationship with Sunac. The property giant previously appeared to have rescued the troubled streaming platform with a $2.2 billion (around $320 million) cash infusion last January.
In July, however, Leshi acknowledged the possibility that it could be delisted from the Shenzhen Exchange and in November, reported a total debt of RMB 8 billion. Early this month, both Sunac China and its proxy company Tianjin Jiarui also sent notices demanding repayment of some RMB 3.26 billion in interest-bearing loans.
At the time of publication, Leshi representatives could not be reached for comment.
On Friday Leshi confirmed that companies Tebon Securities and China Sports Media are filing for arbitration over unpaid debts owed to them by Leshi of roughly RMB 80 million and RMB 200 million, respectively.
The company acknowledged that “due to extremely tight cash flow,” it’s currently unable to resolve multiple lawsuits being brought against it. However, it questioned the legality of the Tebon and China Sports Media cases.
It also reiterated that it would require its former head Jia Yueting to draw on assets or equity from his US-based electric vehicle startup Faraday Future if necessary. No mention was made of earlier claims by yet another company suing Leshi that Jia’s 33% stake in the car company has been frozen.