Ucar, owner of one of China’s biggest ride-hailing firms, slumped 53 per cent this week after investors dumped the stock upon resumption of trading as it sought more time to publish its accounts and failed to distance itself from the scandal involving Luckin Coffee. The company, controlled by Luckin Coffee ’s co-founder Charles Lu Zhengyao , closed at 1.06 yuan on Friday from 2.25 yuan when they were halted from trading on June 30 on National Equities Exchange and Quotation or NEEQ, an over-the-counter market for local small and medium-sized enterprises. The stock slumped on Thursday and was little-changed on Friday. The slump this week wiped out 3.2 billion yuan (US$462.8 million) from its market capitalisation. UCar’s shares have been under pressure by association since Luckin Coffee’s accounting scandal emerged almost four months ago. The coffee chain, dubbed as China’s Starbucks, said on April 2 that several top executives had fabricated sales worth 2.2 billion yuan from the second to the fourth quarters of 2019. The scandal contributed to Washington tightening scrutiny of Chinese companies listed on American bourses, stoking a broader spat between regulators in the world’s two largest economies which have already been entangled in rising tensions. Investors, worried by the Luckin scandal and the fact that former Luckin executives worked closely with Lu and his companies for years, have slammed UCar’s shares by 93 per cent so far this year, ranking the stock among the top 10 biggest losers on the NEEQ. UCar shares were suspended from trading on June 30, after the company delayed the release of its financial results for 2019. Since the auditing of the company’s books was affected by measures to rein in a resurgence of Covid-19 infections in Beijing in June, UCar said on Thursday that it would be postponing the results for a second time. If the company fails to release the results by August 31, its shares are likely to be delisted from NEEQ. Meanwhile, its unit Car Inc is in talks to be taken private, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing people it did not identify. The report said South Korean private equity firm MBK Partners was in talks with BAIC to acquire its stake in the company. Car Inc said it was not in any discussion with MBK. BAIC and MBK were not immediately available for comment. BAIC las month signed an agreement to acquire more than 20 per cent stake in the car rental company for US$180.6 million from UCar, which would have made it largest shareholder of Car Inc. Car Inc’s shares shed 4.2 per cent on Friday, taking the overall decline to 53 per cent this year.