LESHI Internet Information & Technology Corp., the listed unit of debt-laden tech conglomerate LeEco, said Friday that there could be a change in its controlling shareholder if the company’s Shenzhen-listed shares drop following a resumption of trading, without saying when the trading might restart.

Leshi Internet’s founder Jia Yueting currently owns 1.024 billion shares, or a 25.67 percent stake in the company, out of which 1.020 billion shares are pledged, the company said in a filing with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange late Friday.

“If the company’s stock price drops sharply and Jia Yueting cannot pay the guarantee money in time, these financial institutions reserve the right to take control of the collaterized shares, causing a possible change in the ultimate controller of the company,” Leshi Internet said in a statement.

Shares of Leshi Internet have been on a trading halt since April 2017.

LeEco, an entertainment, electronics and electric vehicles group, has struggled to pay its debts after rapid expansion into multiple sectors sparked a cash crunch and a plunge in the shares of Leshi Internet. At its peak LeEco owed creditors 10 billion yuan (US$1.54 billion).

Struggling to support goals that included beating Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors in premium electric vehicle making, Jia has been trying to ride out the cash crunch by taking measures such as cutting staff numbers and selling assets.

Jia was ordered by regulators to return to China before the end of 2017 to address the mounting debt pile linked to his firms.

But he defied the order to return, saying he needed to stay in the United States as a fundraising for his electric car business was making progress. (SD-Agencies)