• Subscribe
  • Contact Us
  • About LendIt Fintech News
  • Home
  • Menu Item
  • Menu Item
  • Menu Item
  • Menu Item

Lend Academy

LendIt Fintech News: Daily Coverage of Fintech & Online Lending


  • Editorial
  • Daily News
  • Podcast
  • Investor Forum
  • Events

Chinese Billionaire Invests Significantly in Lending Club

Despite a turbulent past two weeks, Lending Club is piquing the interest of investors abroad.

May 23, 2016 By Ryan Lichtenwald Leave a Comment

Views: 924

Tianqiao_Chen_Lending_Club

Much of the news about Lending Club’s recent troubles surrounding the departure of CEO Renaud Laplanche has been negative. This has caused the stock price to plummet over the past two weeks as more news came to light. However, there are certainly investors who smell opportunity and one investor just invested a significant amount in Lending Club. Today we learned that Tianqiao Chen , a Chinese billionaire now owns a 11.7% stake of Lending Club through his company, Shanda Group.

According to an article from Reuters:

Shanda Group said in a statement that it was a “strong believer” in the business model that Lending Club has pioneered and was “positive on its long-term prospects as it continues to evolve and refine its business.”

The Shanda Group purchased about 29 million shares for $148.7 million which has today sent the stock price up over 8% to $4.32 at the close of trading. We haven’t heard much public support for Lending Club from any US based companies, but the market in Asia is thriving and it seems that the Shanda Group is still a believer in the Lending Club vision.

LendIt Co-Founder Jason Jones recently came back from a two week trip to China in preparation for LendIt China 2016. After a huge setback earlier this year with the $7.6 billion Ezubao fraud it seems as the industry is recovering and coming back even stronger than before. Jason had this to say after his most recent trip:

Internet finance is a major force in China.  Since there is very little banking/investment infrastructure for consumers and small businesses, there is a huge opportunity for consumer facing businesses to build products and services. In this case Shanda is a gaming company with a large cash balance that is transitioning into Internet finance. 

Shanda Group is another example of a company that is investing heavily into internet finance in the US. Renren, a Chinese firm has taken a similar approach and has a stake in many US based online lenders such as SoFi, Lending Home and Fundrise among other fintech companies.

Conclusion

It’s still too early to tell what the ultimate repercussions will be from the Lending Club saga, but it’s clear that there are still people who still believe in Lending Club. Having a large investment from Shanda Group is not something that should surprise us as fintech is truly a global trend. Investors from around the world are hoping to cash in on this trend which will continue despite any speed bumps along the way.

Filed Under: Peer to Peer Lending Tagged With: Lending Club, Shanda Group

Views: 924

Investor Intelligence

Peter Renton's Returns

Investor Forum

Lending Club Review

Prosper Review

Investor Resources

Most Popular Editorials

The Pure Marketplace Lending Model is Dead, the Hybrid Takes its Place

The 2018 Lending Club and Prosper Tax Guide

My Returns at Lending Club and Prosper

Map of Available States for Lending Club and Prosper Investors

Banks and Marketplace Lending Platforms: Ideal Partners?

Subscribe to the Podcast

Subscribe to the Lend Academy Podcast on iTunes
Subscribe to the Lend Academy Podcast
List of Podcast Episodes

Archives

Follow @LendAcademy Follow @LendIt

ABOUT LENDIT FINTECH NEWS

LendIt Fintech News, Powered by Lend Academy, has been bringing you all the news and information about fintech and online lending since 2010 when it was founded by Peter Renton. We not only have the industry’s most active news site, but also the largest investor forum and the first and most popular podcast.

We are a team of fintech enthusiasts who have been covering the industry for many years. With a deep knowledge of online lending, digital banking, blockchain, artificial intelligence and more our team covers the daily news and writes in-depth editorials.

Recent Editorials

  • LendingClub Receives Final Approval for its Acquisition of Radius Bank
  • Top 10 Fintech News Stories for the Week Ending January 16, 2021
  • Podcast 281: Sean De Clercq of Kickfurther
  • Upgrade Launches a Rewards Checking Account
  • Affirm’s IPO Takes Off Like a Rocket Ship

Copyright © 2021 · Metro Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in