Billionaire property magnate Sun Hongbin has come to the rescue of LeEco for the second time this year, providing US$270 million in loans to the internet giant’s video streaming and TV unit on Thursday through his Tianjin-based residential developer China Sunac Holdings.
Sunac will provide Leshi Internet a 1.29 billion yuan loan (US$194.5 million) for general working capital, plus 3 billion yuan of guarantees to cover its existing and new debt, the company said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Thursday. In addition, Leshi Zhixin the TV unit, will receive a 500 million yuan loan, the statement said.
Thursday’s announcement reflects the second major investment by Sunac to support embattled LeEco this year. In January the company invested 15 billion yuan in LeEco subsidiaries, including a 8.61 per cent stake in Leshi and a 33.5 per cent stake in Leshi Zhixin.
Sun, chairman and executive director of Sunac, was appointed to take up the top leadership post at Leshi in July after Jia Yueting, its founder and CEO, stepped down from all management roles at the company.
Sunac is the fifth-largest developer in China by sales.
At the time the investments were unveiled in January, Sun said he admired Jia’s entrepreneurship and noted that LeEco’s entertainment assets fit with his own ambitions to expand into the sector.
