Luckin Coffee to resume trading on Nasdaq

Shares of the embattled company have been suspending since early April

FILE PHOTO: A Luckin Coffee logo is seen at a closed store in Beijing, following the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, China, April 16, 2020. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
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Luckin Coffee is scheduled to resume trading on the Nasdaq on May 20, the exchange reported, days after it sent the company a delisting notice.

Shares of Luckin will resume trading at  7am Wednesday morning. They have been suspended since early April after the company launched an investigation into fabricated sales transactions, which the company has also issued an apology for. Prior to the suspension, the announcement sent the shares down more than 75 per cent in a single trading session.

On May 15, the Nasdaq cited concerns related to the fabricated transactions and past failure to publicly disclose material information, Luckin said in a regulatory filing. It will remain listed pending the outcome of an appeal hearing, which is expected to be scheduled within 45 days of a hearing request.

The disclosure comes amid heightened economic tension as Nasdaq plans to tighten listing rules for companies from China, France and other markets with national security or other laws restricting US regulators’ access to information. The stock exchange also plans to impose a minimum fundraising size and float requirement, a filing shows.

Luckin, which went public just a little over a year ago, fired its chief executive officer last week, reflecting increased turmoil at a company that was once considered among China’s brightest growth stories.

The company, which said it wanted to challenge Starbucks in China, is now facing scrutiny from regulators in both the US and China for the fabricated transactions that represent a significant portion of the company’s total revenue. Its offices in China were raided by the authorities last month as part of a multi-agency investigation into its finances, Bloomberg has reported.