The "cross-border leader" was applied for reorganization by creditors? The latest developments are here

Cross-Border Link, once a thriving distribution giant, has repeatedly encountered lows in recent years. Among them, the most notable event was the application for corporate reorganization of Cross-Border Link due to debts.

Cross-border Communication announces the latest progress of creditors' application to the court for company reorganization

On August 15, Cross-Border Link announced the latest progress announcement on creditors' applications to the court for company reorganization and pre-reorganization .

In the announcement, Cross-Border Communication stated that on May 12, 2023, the company received a "Notice Letter" from the applicant. The applicant applied to the Taiyuan Intermediate People's Court for reorganization of the company on May 10, 2023, on the grounds that the company could not repay its due debts and obviously lacked the ability to repay, but still had reorganization value, and at the same time applied for pre-reorganization registration.

The company disclosed the "Announcement on the Progress of Creditors' Application to the Court for Company Reorganization and Pre-reorganization" on June 16, 2023 and July 15, 2023. As of the disclosure date of this announcement ( August 15 ) , the company has not received any relevant notice or ruling from the court.

It is understood that in the progress announcements released by Cross-Border Link on June 16, 2023 and July 15, 2023, Cross-Border Link responded that it had not yet received relevant notices from the court.

It should be noted that Cross-Border Link issued a risk warning in the announcement document released recently .

( I ) There is still uncertainty as to whether the company will enter the reorganization process

As of the date of disclosure of this announcement, the company has not received any relevant notification or ruling from the Taiyuan Intermediate People's Court on the applicant's application for company reorganization and pre-reorganization. There is still significant uncertainty as to whether the applicant's application will be accepted by the court and whether the company will enter the pre-reorganization and reorganization procedures.

(II) Risk of company stock trading being subject to delisting risk warning

According to the relevant provisions of the "Listing Rules", if the Taiyuan Intermediate People's Court decides to accept the reorganization application submitted by the applicant, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange will implement a delisting risk warning for the company's stock trading.

(III) Risk of the company's shares being delisted

If the Taiyuan Intermediate Court decides to accept the company's reorganization application, the company will cooperate with the Taiyuan Intermediate Court and the administrator to carry out relevant reorganization work in accordance with the law, and perform the legal obligations of the debtor in accordance with the law. If the company successfully implements the reorganization and completes the reorganization plan, it will be conducive to optimizing the company's asset-liability structure and improving its sustainable operating capabilities. If the reorganization fails, the company will be at risk of being declared bankrupt. If the company is declared bankrupt, according to the relevant provisions of the Listing Rules, the company's shares will face the risk of being delisted. Investors are advised to invest rationally and pay attention to risks.

The former "cross-border leader" is now in constant turmoil

It is not known whether Cross-Border Link will eventually enter the pre-reorganization and reorganization procedures .

However, what is certain at present is that Cross-Border Link is already behind bars.

On July 8, Cross-Border Link disclosed the "Reminder Announcement on the Judicial Auction of Part of the Shares of the Largest Shareholder", stating that from July 27 to July 28, 2023, 11.0512 million shares held by Yang Jianxin, the largest shareholder of Cross-Border Link, will be auctioned online by the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court of Guangdong Province on the JD.com judicial auction platform.

On July 28, the auction of part of the shares held by Yang Jianxin was completed as scheduled.

On July 31, Cross-Border Communication issued a new announcement disclosing the auction results , and part of the shares held by the company's largest shareholder Yang Jianxin had completed judicial auction.

The announcement showed that after an open bidding, the bidder Li Jiemin won 11.0512 million shares of Cross-Border Communication with the highest bid on the JD online auction platform, and the auction transaction price was RMB 40.722608 million.

When the industry was speculating whether the auction would have an adverse impact on Cross-Border Link, Cross-Border Link stated that the judicial auction of shares would not lead to changes in the company's control and would not affect the company's continued operations.

Once upon a time, Cross-Border Link had a very loud reputation in the circle and was a well-known best-seller.

In 2011 , Cross-Border Link was listed on the A-share market of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange .

In 2015, Cross-Border Link entered a stage of rapid development, with its revenue soaring from 841.8 million to 3.961 billion, a significant increase of 370% .

In 2018 , Cross-Border Link reached the peak of its development, with annual revenue reaching 21.53 billion, 25 times that of 2014. That year , Cross-Border Link's market value once reached 35.6 billion yuan.

Since 2018, Cross-border Link has been on a downward trend and has run into operational difficulties. Long-term inventory backlogs and goodwill impairment have led to huge losses in the company's net profit. Its core subsidiaries, Paton and Global Easybuy, have been sold or liquidated, and several independent sites have been closed. Not only that, but the company has also faced multiple lawsuits due to constant friction among its top management and lawsuits.

Facing internal and external troubles, Cross-Border Link has faced continuous losses in recent years.

In 2019 and 2020, Cross-Border Link’s revenue was RMB 17.874 billion and RMB 17.021 billion respectively, and its losses were RMB 2.708 billion and RMB 3.374 billion respectively.

In 2021 , Cross-border Communication achieved revenue of 8.818 billion yuan and net profit of 673 million yuan . However, after deducting non-recurring gains and losses, the net profit was -2.25 billion yuan, which was not a high profit brought by operating activities .

In 2022, Cross-border Communication 's revenue was 7.254 billion yuan, and the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 17.8423 million yuan . Although it turned losses into profits, it is still far from the peak period of 600 million net profit in 2018 .

Data shows that as of 2022, the total liabilities of Cross-Border Link have reached 2.539 billion yuan.

Recently, there have been rumors online that Amazon is interested in acquiring Gearbest, an independent website platform under Cross-border Communication . However, this news has been denied by the staff of Cross-border Communication’s securities department. However, the topic of “Amazon and Pinduoduo are interested in acquiring Gearbest” has not diminished.

As a self-operated comprehensive cross-border e-commerce platform under Cross-Border Link, Gearbest was founded in 2014 and focuses on electronic products, small appliances and fashionable menswear.

Gearbest 's revenue peaked at 4.591 billion yuan, with more than 5,000 top suppliers. At its peak, Gearbest had over 40 million active users and 106 million monthly page views, which was better than Banggood and Shein's main websites at the time. It was ahead of Shein and Zhiyu in the world rankings and was listed in the "BrandZ™ Top 50 Chinese Overseas Brands" for four consecutive years.

Later, Gearbest was briefly shut down. According to the financial report revealed by Cross-Border Communication, Gearbest's revenue in 2022 was greatly reduced compared to its glorious period, but judging from the data accumulated over the years, it is still very valuable.

Many people in the industry are very optimistic about Gearbest , and Gearbest has also attracted the attention of many giants .

In addition to Gearbest , Zaful, owned by K-Commerce, is also very valuable.

Zaful was founded in 2014 and focuses on women's clothing, shoes, accessories and other products. It has more than 54 million registered users worldwide, more than 10 million active users per month, and serves more than 200 countries and regions around the world .

Zaful is similar to Shein , both of which use fast fashion as their selling point. Although Zaful faced a market crisis in 2021 due to the bankruptcy of Global Easybuy , Zaful 's business is gradually recovering.

Although Cross-Border Link currently has high-quality brand assets , it is still unknown whether it can turn the crisis into safety in the future.

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