China's Leshi Internet plans to buy finance business from affiliate for 3 billion yuan

[September 25, 2017]  By Sijia Jiang

(Reuters) - The main listed unit of Chinese technology conglomerate LeEco said on Sunday that it plans to buy investment and financial service assets from an affiliate for up to 3 billion yuan ($455.24 million) as part of a restructuring exercise.

Leshi Internet Information & Technology, a video content company, said in a filing it would have the assets transferred from Leshi Investment Management (Beijing) Limited for no more than 3 billion yuan. [http://bit.ly/2wfwECT]

Leshi said the move, a financial arrangement between the listed company and its affiliate, fits its strategy and would help it provide internet finance to Leshi's users.

Leshi Investment Management is LeEco's finance arm with businesses in online payment, online transaction and asset management. It is applying for licenses in banking, securities brokerage, and finance leasing, in addition to various licenses it already owns, according to the filing.

Leshi has been suspended from trading on the Shenzhen stock exchange since April pending a major asset restructuring.

Its founder, Jia Yueting, has been battling financial problems facing his LeEco group, whose businesses, from a Netflix-like video website to electric cars, were seen to have expanded too rapidly in recent years.

Jia resigned from all posts at Leshi in July, with new investor Sunac China's chairman Sun Hongbin taking over as Leshi's new chairman.

(Reporting by Sijia Jiang and Hong Kong newsroom; Editing by James Pomfret & Shri Navaratnam)

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