Operations

Luckin Coffee files for bankruptcy protection

Photo courtesy of Luckin Coffee.

February 8, 2021

Luckin Coffee Inc., a pioneer in coffee vending and a competitor to Starbucks in China, has filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in New York, less than a year after the China-based company acknowledged that more than a quarter's worth of business could have been faked, according to a Bloomberg report.

The filing is intended to protect the company from lawsuits by creditors owed $460 million. The company's coffee shops in China will remain open.

The filing caps a saga in which the company, dismissed its chairman and CEO, paid hundreds of millions in fines and saw its stock fall 90% before being delisted by Nasdaq.