|
The Beijing branch of the China Securities Regulatory Commission
(CSRC) issued a notice last week ordering LeEco CEO Jia Yueting
to return to China to sort out a mounting debt pile linked to
his firms and protect investors' rights.
Jia said in a statement that he had asked his brother, Jia
Yuemin, to meet the regulator face-to-face last Friday to
provide a report after the notice was issued.
"I am deeply sorry and blame myself for the negative impact of
LeEco's debt crisis," he said in the statement that was posted
on his official WeChat account on Tuesday.
"The fundraising for Faraday Future in the United States is
making significant progress and there are many tasks I need to
push forward in order to ensure the production and timely
delivery of the FF91," he said, referring to a luxury electric
vehicle (EV) that LeEco is developing with Faraday Future.
Questions have been raised about the outlook for the FF91, given
LeEco's spiraling cash problems as well as its decision to pull
out of a joint project with British sports carmaker Aston Martin
to develop RapidE electric car.
LeEco, an entertainment, electronics and electric vehicles
group, has struggled to pay its debts after rapid expansion into
multiple sectors sparked a cash crunch, a plunge in the shares
of a listed unit and led to multiple defaults. At its peak LeEco
owed creditors 10 billion yuan ($1.54 billion).
Struggling to support goals that included beating Elon Musk's
Tesla Motors <TSLA.O> in premium EV making, Jia has been trying
to ride out the cash crunch by taking measures such cutting
staff numbers and selling assets.
Jia said he had asked his wife, Gan Wei, and brother to
represent him at Leshi Internet Information & Technology Corp
<300104.SZ> in exercising shareholder rights and handling the
sale of assets. Jia stepped down as CEO of the group's main
listed unit in May last year.
He also cited a single late payment in July as being one of the
key causes of LeEco's cash-flow problems, saying it led to the
freezing of his assets and prompted a slew of early loan
recoveries. He said "false and malicious" reports had impacted
the business.
Jia was placed on an official blacklist of debt defaulters in
early December, a move taken by Chinese courts to put pressure
on people and entities to repay debts.
(Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
