Shanda, the Chinese investment group, has emerged as the largest shareholder in Lending Club, the online lender reeling from a loan mis-selling scandal and the departure of its charismatic founder.
中国投资集团盛大(Shanda)已成为Lending Club的最大股东。这家网贷机构刚刚遭受一场贷款不当销售丑闻和其有魅力的创始人离开的沉重打击。
Shares in the San Francisco-based company, a pioneer in matching borrowers with investors over an online platform, collapsed two weeks ago after an internal company investigation found it had falsified documentation when selling a small package of loans to an investor.
总部位于旧金山的该公司是在网络平台上撮合借款人与投资者的先驱。两周前其股票暴跌,原因是公司内部调查发现,它在向一个投资者出售一个小贷款包时伪造了文件。
That announcement — which led to the exit of Renaud Laplanche, who founded the company a decade ago and was its chief executive — was followed by disclosures of inquiries by the US Department of Justice and New York’s Department of Financial Services.
这一公告导致10年前创立该公司、此前担任首席执行官的雷诺•拉普朗什(Renaud Laplanche)离职。随后该公司披露正受到美国司法部(DoJ)和纽约州金融服务局(NYDFS)的调查。
But yesterday Lending Club shares bounced about 8 per cent, as Shanda disclosed in a regulatory filing that it had increased its stake from about 7 per cent to 11.7 per cent, with options to buy a further 4.1 per cent. Lending Club now has a market capitalisation of about $1.66bn, down about 80 per cent from its peak.
但昨日Lending Club股价反弹约8%,因为盛大在一份监管申报文件中披露,它已将所持股份从大约7%增至11.7%,并拥有再增持4.1%股份的选择权。Lending Club目前的市值达到大约16.6亿美元,相比最高点下跌了约80%。
The ructions at the online lender come at a critical time for the industry, which has hit a wall after years of rapid growth. As regulation tightens, and losses begin to rise on some of the lowest-rated assets, some institutional investors such as banks and hedge funds have begun to turn up their noses at the risk-adjusted returns on offer.
该公司经历波折之际,在多年快速增长之后碰了壁的整个网贷行业处于一个关键时刻。随着监管收紧,随着一部分评级最低资产的损失开始上升,银行和对冲基金等一些机构投资者开始不满意其能够获得的风险调整回报。
As a result the online lenders, which as non-banks cannot rely on deposits to fund loans, have had to scramble to find stable sources of long-term capital.
其结果是,网贷机构(它们不是银行,不能依靠存款为贷款提供资金)不得不忙着寻找稳定的长期资本来源。
Prosper Marketplace and Avant, which like Lending Club deal in unsecured consumer loans, have laid off staff and paused expansion plans in response to slowdowns in their core units.
和Lending Club一样提供无担保消费贷款的Prosper Marketplace和Avant为应对其核心部门业务放缓,已裁减员工和暂停扩张计划。
Scott Sanborn, a former head of marketing promoted to acting chief executive of Lending Club, has spent much of the past two weeks talking to big buyers of its loans, trying to persuade them to stick with their programmes.
之前在Lending Club主管营销工作、最近晋升至代理首席执行官的斯科特•桑伯恩(Scott Sanborn)在过去两周花了大量时间与该公司贷款的大买家交谈,试图说服他们坚守投资计划。
When it presented first-quarter results two weeks ago, Lending Club withdrew its revenue guidance for the full year, saying it needed more time to assess the impact of its disclosures.
两周前发布第一季度业绩时,Lending Club撤回了其全年营收指引,称需要更多时间来评估近期各项披露的影响。
In a statement, Shanda said it had increased its stake in Lending Club because it wanted to invest in industries with “large-scale and long-term, sustainable growth potential”.
盛大在一份声明中表示,它增持了Lending Club股份,因为它希望投资于具有“大规模和长期、可持续增长潜力”的行业。
Lending Club said it had been in talks with Shanda and looked forward “to a continued dialogue”. Shanda’s founder, Chen Tianqiao , 43, was a pioneer in China’s online games industry through Shanda Interactive, and has diversified into payments, real estate and venture capital. In April Shanda bought a 10 per cent stake in Legg Mason, the Baltimore -based asset manager.
Lending Club表示,它一直在与盛大商谈,并期待“继续对话”。盛大的创始人、43岁的陈天桥曾通过创立盛大互动(Shanda Interactive),成为中国网络游戏行业的先驱,并已分散业务,涉足支付、房地产和风险资本等领域。4月,盛大收购了总部位于巴尔的摩的资产管理公司美盛(Legg Mason) 10%股份。
According to its filing, Shanda spent $149m on 29m shares in Lending Club, including commissions, and $11m on options to buy a further 15.7m shares.
根据其监管申报文件,盛大斥资1.49亿美元(包括佣金)购得Lending Club 2900万股股票,并斥资1100万美元买下进一步购入1570万股股票的期权。
If exercised fully, Shanda’s stake could rise to 15.8 per cent; it would then be pulling ahead as the company’s biggest holder, in front of venture firm Sands Capital, with 10 per cent, and Baillie Gifford, the Edinburgh-based fund manager, with 9 per cent.
若完全行使这些期权,盛大的持股比例将上升到15.8%;届时它将进一步扩大作为最大股东的优势,领先于持股10%的风险投资公司Sands Capital,以及持股9%的爱丁堡基金管理公司Baillie Gifford。
Morgan Stanley, which led the company’s initial public offering in 2014, also holds a 9 per cent stake.
曾在2014年牵头该公司首次公开发行(IPO)交易的摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)也持有9%股份。