Investor Calls for Opposition to Luckin Coffee Board Plan

(Bloomberg) -- An investor in Luckin Coffee has urged shareholders and convertible bondholders of the disgraced Chinese coffee chain’s board of directors to oppose a plan to give Centurium Capital control of the company, according to a letter seen by Bloomberg News.

The letter signed by GS Wealth LP director Wu Naijia expressed concerns over a shareholder rights plan adopted by Luckin, which would make it easier for Centurium to take a controlling stake in the company with close to 60% of the voting power.

Such a move could damage the value of other shareholders’ interests and could enable Centurium to unilaterally take Luckin private, the letter said. GS Wealth urged shareholders to lobby the board to have them cancel an upcoming extraordinary general meeting on Dec. 11, which will include a vote on a proposed amendment to Luckin’s articles of association. 

The firm said in the letter that it is a creditor to Luckin’s special purpose vehicles, entities that hold Luckin shares and that are currently in liquidation. It alleges that Centurium has entered into a undisclosed share purchase agreement that would give the firm 60% of the voting power in Luckin, and that the agreement has not been disclosed to the shareholders or convertible bondholders.

Representatives for Luckin and Centurium didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. 

Luckin filed for bankruptcy in Feburary and was delisted from the Nasdaq following a scandal that saw the chairman and chief executive officer fired and hundreds of millions in fines paid to both Chinese and U.S. regulators. It is currently in a court-led restructuring in the British Virgin Islands.  

The company said in April that an affiliate of Centurium Capital had agreed to invest about $240 million, with Joy Capital investing an additional $10 million. The sale closed on Wednesday, according to a press release.

Founded in 2017, Luckin operated 4,018 stores in mainland China as of the end of the first half of this year, according to an earnings report. The chain’s growth was fueled by offering big discounts as it sought to reach 10,000 locations by the end of 2021 and surpass Starbucks Corp., which has targeted China as one of its key markets.

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