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Tuesday, Mar 19, 2024
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Vizio Sale in Spotlight of Chinese Buyer’s Finances

Vizio Inc.’s pending $2 billion sale to LeEco bears watching as chatter picks up in analyst circles that the China-based conglomerate has hit a cash crunch as it expands product lines and markets.

LeEco Chief Executive and founder Yueting “YT” Jia, in a letter to employees that was obtained by Bloomberg, said, “We blindly sped ahead, and our cash demand ballooned. We got over-extended in our global strategy. At the same time, our capital and resources were in fact limited.”

And that comes on top of the strained regulatory environment between China and the U.S. in the past few years. Regulators in both countries have taken a more critical look at acquisitions and investment between them, holding up transactions for months in some cases and nixing them altogether in others.

Vizio spokeswoman Katie Kotarak told the Business Journal that “the deal is still in progress and Vizio doesn’t comment on rumors.”

The transaction is expected to close by year-end.

The development comes about a month after LeEco’s U.S. launch event in San Francisco, where the company spent more than two hours promoting its third-generation smartphone, an Android smart bike, 85-inch smart TV, updated subscription services, a virtual reality headset, and an autonomous electric vehicle.

Perhaps it was telling that the Beijing-based company barely mentioned TV maker Vizio during the long press event, highlighting instead its plans to take on the likes of Apple, Tesla, Samsung, Amazon, Netflix and Disney on their own turf.

Boost in Votes

Nearly 700 OC residents lined up to vote on Election Day at two Boost Mobile locations in the company’s first foray into civic engagement.

The “Boost Your Voice” initiative transformed retail stores in OC, Riverside, San Marcos and Chicago into polling places in an effort to turn out the vote in underserved urban communities.

Irvine-based Boost Mobile LLC is a prepaid, no-contract brand operated by Overland, Kan.-based telecom giant Sprint Corp.

The La Habra location processed nearly 500 voters, and the Santa Ana location handled almost 200, according to Boost, with short lines of five to 10 residents waiting less than 15 minutes to cast their ballots.

Donald Trump’s stunning electoral win was the story of the day, though OC voters also ushered in an era of change, with a majority casting ballots for Hillary Clinton, marking the first time Orange County opted for the Democratic presidential nominee since 1936, when incumbent Franklin D. Roosevelt earned the nod.

STEM Cars

Nine OC high schools are building their own fuel cell remote control vehicles as part of the Toyota-sponsored Hydrogen Horizon Automotive Challenge, which will culminate in a race at the L.A. Convention Center.

The science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, program, is rooted in the design principles of the Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell vehicle.

Toyota National Manager Geri Yoza recently visited Cornelia Connelly School, a Catholic all-girls high school in Anaheim, to highlight STEM education and the value of having young women involved in those disciplines.

The gender and ethnic gaps among workers at U.S. technology companies remains a prevalent issue, and influential players that include Facebook, Apple and Google have launched in-house initiatives to help close the gap.

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