Scandal-hit Luckin set to delist from Nasdaq

Luckin Coffee, a Starbucks rival in China, said on Saturday it will delist from the Nasdaq following a massive fraud scandal that sent its share price plummeting.

The chain fired its chief executive Jenny Zhiya Qian and chief operating officer Liu Jian in May after an internal investigation into fabricated transactions.

Liu has been accused of faking 2.2 billion yuan (US$310 million) worth of sales in 2019, the company revealed in April, sending its shares into freefall.

“Luckin Coffee will suspend trading on the Nasdaq on June 29 and file for delisting,” the company said, after abandoning plans to appeal a Nasdaq order to delist.

Luckin said its operations would continue at its more than 4,000 stores across China.

The company will hold a meeting next month to consider the dismissal of several members of its management team.

The chain was launched in 2017 and raised US$561 million in its initial public offering less than two years later.

Shares soared by 50 percent when it began trading.