Labaton Sucharow LLP, a nationally ranked and award winning investor rights law firm, announces it is developing a proprietary investigation concerning potential securities claims on behalf of shareholders of JOYY Inc. (NASDAQ: YY) resulting from allegations that YY may have issued materially misleading business information to the investing public.
On November 18, 2020, Muddy Waters announced that it would short JOYY (NASDAQ: YY), calling it fraudulent. Muddy Waters report notes:
While trawling the sewers of the world’s capital markets over the past 10 years, irony has never been in short supply. And yet, nothing could prepare us for the surreality of Baidu announcing its intention to buy YY Live from JOYY, which happened just as we were preparing to reveal that our year-long investigation shows YY Live is about 90% fraudulent.
It was clear to us from early on that YY Live was almost entirely fake. YY Live is an ecosystem of mirages. Its supposedly high-earning performers in reality take home only a fraction of their reported totals. The purportedly independent channel owners are largely controlled by YY in order to facilitate continuous sham transactions. The legions of benefactor fans are almost entirely bots operating from YY’s internal network (~50% of YY Live gift volume), bots operating from external bot farms, and performers roundtripping gifts to themselves. We conclude that YY Live is ~90% fraudulent. YY’s international livestreaming business, Bigo, seems barely more real.
So, the question is: What will Baidu do? It’s no secret that Baidu is struggling to grow. But will Baidu really try to buy “growth” in the form of an almost completely fake business? And for $3.6 billion cash, or seven percent of its market cap?! We have been arguing for the past 10 years that the rot in “China Inc.” is far greater than most investors either understand or admit. Many have called us overly cynical. Baidu / YY Live will be THE test of whether China Inc. is really just a few bad apples; or, whether the incessant cheating, lying, and indifference to U.S. law permeate the highest echelons of China’s public companies.
If you are a shareholder or option holder that suffered losses in YY, and wish to participate, learn more, or discuss the issues surrounding the investigation, please contact David J. Schwartz using the toll free number (800) 321-0476 or via email at dschwartz@labaton.com
About the Firm
Labaton Sucharow LLP is one of the world’s leading complex litigation firms representing clients in securities, antitrust, corporate governance and shareholder rights, and consumer cybersecurity and data privacy litigation. Labaton Sucharow has been recognized for its excellence by the courts and peers, and it is consistently ranked in leading industry publications. Offices are located in New York, NY, Wilmington, DE, and Washington, D.C. More information about Labaton Sucharow is available at www.labaton.com.
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Contacts:
(800) 321-0476
dschwartz@labaton.com
