Chinese billionaire Tianqiao Chen raises stake in Lending Club
Reuters
Published Jun 20, 2016 10:03AM ET
Chinese billionaire Tianqiao Chen raises stake in Lending Club
(Reuters) - Chinese billionaire Tianqiao Chen has raised his stake in online lending platform Lending Club Corp (N:LC) following the recent ouster of founder and Chief Executive Renaud Laplanche.
Investment entities led by Chen reported a 15.13 percent in Lending Club as of June 16, up from 11.7 percent reported on May 11, two days after Laplanche was forced out.
Shares of Lending Club, the world's largest peer-to-peer lender, were up about 2 percent at $4.90 in early trading on Monday, having more than halved this year.
Chen said in May that he viewed Lending Club's crumbling stock as a buying opportunity. He has been actively investing in the company since at least late March.
Laplanche resigned on May 9 after an internal probe found that the company had knowingly sold an investor - later identified by sources as Jefferies Group (N:LUK) - $22 million of loans it did not want.
Laplanche also had not disclosed to Lending Club that he held an ownership stake in a fund in which the company was considering an investment.
The former CEO has been speaking to private equity firms and banks about financing a potential buyout of the online lender, sources familiar with the matter said earlier this month.
Lending Club, whose shares have been falling since its stock exchange listing in 2014, has a market value of about $1.9 billion.
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Written By: Reuters
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