After seven and a half years of investment and nearly two years of lifting the ban, home appliance giant Midea Group decided to reduce its holdings of robot leader Eft-U by a large amount, and will reduce its holdings by up to 31.3068 million shares, corresponding to 6% of the shareholding ratio.

Since 2016, Eft has sustained losses for seven years. Based on the closing price on June 6, 2023, Midea Group invested in Efte for 7 and a half years, and the floating profit was only 1 times.

Since its listing in July 2020, Efte’s share price has continued to decline, falling by 71% so far, and its current market value is about 5.2 billion.

Since February 2021, the share price of Midea Group has continued to decline, falling by 47% so far, almost halved, and the current market value is 380.7 billion.

Eft announced on the evening of June 6 that due to the relevant arrangements of the investment plan, the United States Group, which holds 35.6 million shares and 6.82% shares of the company, intends to reduce the total number of shares by centralized bidding and block trading, and the total number of shares will not exceed 31.3068 million shares, and the proportion of shares will not exceed 6% of the total share capital of the company.

The shares were acquired by Midea Group before the IPO.

Eft prospectus shows that on November 30, 2015, the provisional shareholders’ meeting of Eft Limited resolved to agree that Broad Venture Capital would transfer its 35.6 million yuan of Eft Limited capital to the United States Group.

On December 1, 2015, Broad Venture Capital and Midea Group signed the “Property Rights Transaction Contract”, agreeing that Broad Venture Capital will transfer its 35.6 million yuan of capital investment of Efte Limited to Midea Group, and the transfer price is 178 million yuan (that is, the transfer price of each yuan of capital investment is 5 yuan).

In addition, Midea Group wholly-owned Midea Robot Industry Development Co., LTD., also holds 5 percent of the shares of Wuhu Yuanhong, the largest shareholder of Efte. At present, Wuhu Yuanhong’s shareholding ratio is 16.1%, that is, the United States Group also indirectly holds 0.805% shares of Efte.

The limited sale period of the above holdings of Midea Group is 1 year, that is, in late July 2021, one year after the listing of Efte, the shares held by Midea Group can be listed and circulated.

On June 6, 2023, Eft’s closing price was $10.01. According to this calculation, Midea Group has invested in Evert for seven and a half years, and the floating profit has doubled. This investment performance, in the venture capital institutions, is not high.

Eft lost money for seven years in a row

In 2022, Efte achieved revenue of 1.328 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.72%, and a loss of 173 million yuan; In the first quarter of 2023, the company’s operating income was 390 million yuan, an increase of 37.08%, but compared with the same period last year, the loss widened to 40.573 million yuan.