Here is a timeline of the Nasdaq-listed Luckin Coffee Inc’s journey from a hot Chinese start-up to U.S. IPO and now an investigation for alleged fraud.
January 2018 – Luckin Coffee, co-founded by CEO Qian Zhiya, the former chief operating officer of car rental firm Car Inc and two other senior executives, officially started operations in Beijing and Shanghai.
June 2018 – Luckin raised $200 million in its maiden fundraising round which valued the startup at $1 billion and made it one of the quickest firms to reach ‘unicorn’ status in China. Investors included Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC [GIC.UL], Chinese investment firms Centurium Capital and Joy Capital.
November 2018 – Luckin raised $200 million in its second funding round which increased the company’s valuation to $2.2 billion. Investors included GIC, Centurium Capital, Joy Capital and CICC.
April 2019 – Luckin raised $150 million in a pre-IPO fundraising round from investors including BlackRock Inc, which valued the company at $2.9 billion.
May 2019 – Luckin priced its U.S. initial public offering at $17 per share and raised $645 million after fully exercising the greenshoe option. The float was the second biggest U.S. IPO by a Chinese firm last year, according to Refinitiv.
December 2019 – Luckin overtook Starbucks as China’s biggest coffee chain by number of stores. Luckin said it had just over 4,500 stores – achieving a goal it set one year ago and topping Starbucks which had 4,100.
January 2020 – Luckin expanded into vending machines to sell freshly brewed hot beverages and snacks, seeking even more of the China market. It also completed a follow-on share sale and a convertible bond worth a combined $980 million.
February 2020 – Short-seller Muddy Waters Research shorted the Luckin stock, citing an anonymous report that questioned the coffee chain’s financials. Luckin called the report’s methodology flawed and denied all allegations.
April 2020 – Luckin said on April 2 that an internal investigation had shown its chief operating officer, Jian Liu, and other employees fabricated sales transactions. Its shares fell as much as 81% in New York on Thursday, wiping $5 billion off its market capitalisation.
Source: Reuters.com