P2P Lending / NFT Lending Forum

The meeting started at 9am, 30 minutes before the stock market opened at 9:30 EDT. I'm guessing there was something in the presentation package that wasn't well received.

Market is now open (9:39 am) and stock is trading at $3.29, down about 22.5% from yesterday's $4.25 close.

Wonder the news??

For perspective current price is at all time lows, almost exactly the same after the scandal of May 2016 was announced.

The LC presentation packet is at:

http://ir.lendingclub.com/Cache/1001230258.PDF?Y=&O=PDF&D=&fid=1001230258&T=&iid=4213397

The bad news is near the end of course; 2017 Guidance Update and updates for 2018 and beyond.

Market watch now has a commentary:

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/lendingclub-shares-plunge-on-weaker-than-expected-outlook-2017-12-07?siteid=yhoof2&yptr=yahoo

Odd coincidence highly likely but I am withdrawing my taxable and ROTH IRA account each Thu until I get down to a particular investment level I set. I realized this morning that I forgot to do the transfer for my ROTH IRA money to STRATA. I tried this morning but get this message that seems bogus:
Quote

I've been transferring from LC to Strata each time my cash level hits $10k. Today it was a bit over $9500 so I logged into LC just now and transferred that amount. Seemed to go just like all the previous transfers and I received the message "Your wire fund transfer to your IRA Custodian will be available within 1 business day."

It's nearing 2pm and LC has traded about 31M shares today. Average daily volume is about 8M shares. Busy day.
Stock price has recovered to about $3.75 now.

from: Rob L on December 07, 2017, 02:03:01 PM

from: Rob L on December 07, 2017, 09:41:46 AM

from: Rob L on December 07, 2017, 02:03:01 PM

From around 11am yesterday 12/11 until now 10:30 am 12/12 LC stock has rallied from $3.40 to $4.40. Maybe up or down from here, who knows. It has been disclosed that the Chinese investor Chen bought another 4 million shares on 12/7 (the day of the investor conference) at a price of $3.80 per share (a $15.2M investment). Chen now owns 62 million shares of 415 million outstanding (14.9%).

See: http://www.insider-monitor.com/trading/cik1409970.html

Also: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1318400/000131840017000004/xslF345X03/primary_doc.xml

It's been a nice surge- hoping it has legs and continues to run. I managed to get shares at $3.50 and lowered my overall cost basis to $4 a share

It appears Mr. Chen's appetite for LC shares continues. As of yesterday 12/11 he owned 18.8% of the company (about 78M shares).

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1318400/000094787117001002/ss71700_sc13da.htm

The aggregate purchase price for the 77,986,043 shares of Common Stock (the "Shares") beneficially owned by the Reporting Persons was approximately $357,074,369 inclusive of (i) commissions paid and (ii) with respect to Shares beneficially owned through options that have been exercised, the exercise price of such options, plus the premiums paid for call options (to the extent such options were call options) less the premiums received for put options (to the extent such options were put options). Such purchase price was funded through internally generated funds of the Reporting Persons.

Do the math; it's about $4.58 per share average basis.

Transactions in the Securities of the Issuer Since the Filing of Amendment No. 2

SHANDA ASSET MANAGEMENT HOLDINGS LIMITED
Nature of Transaction           Amount of Securities Purchased  Price Per Share($)  Date of Purchase
Purchase of Common Stock  10,246,773                                3.6853*                12/11/17
Purchase of Common Stock    6,000,000                                3.9247**              12/11/17
 
Blue Horseshoe loves LendingClub. 
Or, from a bygone era, "The Lone Ranger Rides Again!!" (Well there are others too.)

Mr. Chen acquired about 5.8M additional shares on 12/12. Total ownership is 83,666,445 shares or about 20.2% of the company.
The additional shares bough on 12/12 were at prices between $4.22 and $4.30 per share.
The SEC filings must be within two days so we won't know what if any activity occurred yesterday 12/13.

"The aggregate purchase price for the 83,666,445 shares of Common Stock (the "Shares") beneficially owned by the Reporting Persons was approximately $381,329,707 inclusive of (i) commissions paid and (ii) with respect to Shares beneficially owned through options that have been exercised, the exercise price of such options, plus the premiums paid for call options (to the extent such options were call options) less the premiums received for put options (to the extent such options were put options). Such purchase price was funded through internally generated funds of the Reporting Persons."

The average cost basis now is about $4.56 per share.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1318400/000131840017000005/xslF345X03/primary_doc.xml
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1318400/000094787117001007/ss71841_sc13da.htm

To wrap up the recent purchases Mr. Chen acquired about 1.64M additional shares on 12/13. Total ownership is 85,313,151 shares or about 20.6% of the company.
This transaction was executed in multiple trades at prices ranging from $3.805 to $4.

"The aggregate purchase price for the 85,313,151 shares of Common Stock (the "Shares") beneficially owned by the Reporting Persons was approximately $387,730,618 inclusive of (i) commissions paid and (ii) with respect to Shares beneficially owned through options that have been exercised, the exercise price of such options, plus the premiums paid for call options (to the extent such options were call options) less the premiums received for put options (to the extent such options were put options). Such purchase price was funded through internally generated funds of the Reporting Persons."

The average cost basis now is about $4.545 per share.

This is a big deal for LC.  Since mid-2016, Chen has been the largest shareholder of LC, and he continues to buy.  We are watching a slow-motion takeover.

Besides being largest shareholder of LC, he's also the largest shareholder of several other US companies, and holds 700,000 acres of North American timberland! 

You can read about Chen's investment company, Shanda Management, here: http://www.shanda.com/
You can read about Chen's gaming company: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanda

Overview of Shanda Management
It Started With a Game
With an initial investment of only RMB410,000 (approximately US$50,000) in 1999, Founder Chen Tianqiao grew Shanda into one of China's leading Internet companies.  Shanda led the revolution of the online game business through pioneering the freemium model that has since become the worldwide industry standard.

As our game business continued to grow year on year, Shanda expanded into online literature, online video, third party payment, cloud computing, real estate as well as venture capital investments.  Between 2004 and 2012, Shanda owned three NASDAQ-listed subsidiaries and one KOSDAQ-listed subsidiary.  In the second half of 2013, we began transforming Shanda into an investment company focused on private equity, public securities and real estate.

Company Milestones

Global Investment Group
2017.02 Shanda CEO TianQiao Chen and Group President Robert Chiu join Legg Mason (NYSE: LM) Board of Directors; Mr. Chen appointed Vice Chairman
2016.08 Shanda became the single largest shareholder of Community Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE: CYH)
2016.07 Shanda took Ku6 Media Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: KUTV) private
2016.05 Shanda became the single largest shareholder of LendingClub Corporation (NYSE: LC)
2016.04 Shanda became one of the top 3 shareholders of Legg Mason, Inc. (NYSE: LM)
2015.02 Amassed over 700,000 acres of timberland in U.S. and Canada, becoming one of the largest land owners in North America
2014.11 Shanda announced the sale of Cloudary Corporation
2014.11 Sold our entire stake in Shanda Games Limited (NASDAQ: GAME)
2012.07 Relocated global headquarter to Singapore
2012.02 Privatized Shanda Interactive Entertainment Limited (NASDAQ: SNDA) , the then-largest take-private transaction of a U.S.-listed Chinese company
2012.02 Established Shanda World for real estate development, operation and investment
2011.02 Founded Shanda Capital for venture capital investments in China
2009.11 Acquired online video company KUTV, China's first publicly-listed online video player
2009.09 Spun-off IPO of GAME, marking the then-largest ever U.S. IPO of a Chinese private sector company

Media & Technology Company
2008.10 Founded Shanda Institute for Innovation and Technology for research and development of innovative technologies and applications related to Internet, mobile technology and media
2008.07 Online literature company Cloudary Corporation was incorporated, creating the world's largest Chinese- language original content platform
2005.11 SNDA, as a pioneer, announced the adoption of the freemium model, setting the standard for the online game industry

Online Games Company
2004.08 SNDA became the largest Internet company in China by market capitalization
2004.05 SNDA became the first Chinese online games company listed in the U.S.
1999.11 Shanda was founded in Shanghai

Just to put in a footnote, Mr. Chen's buying put a floor under LC's stock and many shorts covered into it.
Before the dip and Mr. Chen's buying, short interest was about 11% (if memory serves and often doesn't) of shares outstanding. It is now about 8.3%. Neither number is particularly high.

BTW: I would be remiss in not thanking Fred93 for the post above.
One wonders if or when Mr. Chen will become a more activist shareholder. Thanks!

+1- Thanks Fred93 as well. Always like to know what's going on behind the curtains.