Yidao to reveal identity of investor replacing LeEco in coming days, source says
Premium ride-sharing app Yidao Yongche has secured a new investor ‘strong in capital strength’ to replace LeEco as controlling shareholder, according to an unidentified source
Yidao Yongche, the premium Chinese ride-sharing company which has been troubled with financial woes over the past months, has gained “a new lease of life” after a well-funded investor has stepped in to replace cash-strapped LeEco as the controlling shareholder, said a source close to the deal.
The source, who declined to name the new investor, told the South China Morning Post that LeEco, which invested US$700 million for a 70 per cent stake in Yidao in 2015, has sold out most of its stakes in the company to the new investor which is “very strong in capital strength”.
Both the car-hailing platform and current management team of Yidao will remain unchanged as part of the agreement.
“The company [Yidao] cherishes the new opportunities and believes it is a new lease of life for Yidao after what it has been through over the past few months,” said the source.
Chinese media reports said that LeEco has filed collateral registration for its stakes in Yidao to a Shanghai-based firm owned by Lancapital Asset Management. Its parent company Lancapital Holdings Group is a financial services enterprise with 16 billion yuan (US$2.35 billion) in assets, which has made investments in Mobike and JD Finance.