RepRisk case study
Luckin Coffee

# How the fraud investigation unfolded

# August 2020

The Luckin Coffee (Luckin) coffeehouse chain was founded in 2017 on an innovative “grab and go” business model that allows its customers to order coffee and other convenience products via an app. After raising USD 645 million through an IPO in the US in May 2019, the company rapidly expanded the number of its retail outlets in China and announced plans to expand into the Middle East and India. According to the Wall Street Journal, by the end of 2019 Luckin was operating more than 4,500 stores throughout China. On January 10, 2020, Bloomberg reported that Luckin’s share price had tripled since its IPO and that the company had increased its stock value by 26 percent by announcing a sale of additional shares and a convertible bond for a combined amount of USD 778 million. In mid-January 2020, the company’s share price reached USD 50.02.