Controversial mobile Internet services provider NQ Mobile Inc (ADR) (NYSE:NQ) announced on Wednesday that chairman of the board and Co-CEO Dr. Henry Lin has resigned “as he is unable to perform his duties in this capacity due to personal reasons unrelated to the Company.”
NQ Mobile just recently filed a long-delayed revised annual report and will be releasing several revised quarterly reports on December 18th. The firm has been accused of accounting chicanery by short-seller Muddy Waters and others.
Statements from NQ Mobile
“We are immensely grateful to Dr. Lin for his partnership, vision, and leadership in helping to position NQ Mobile Inc (ADR) (NYSE:NQ) for the future of the mobile Internet,” noted Co-Founder, COO, acting CFO and incoming Chairman, Dr. Vincent Wenyong Shi. “Looking ahead, we will focus on integrating, scaling and monetizing our various businesses. We are confident that Mr. Xu, in his new role, will help us deliver solid growth in 2015 and beyond.”
“Zemin Xu has been an ongoing mentor and leader for all of us,” commented Co-CEO Omar Khan. “He has enjoyed an extremely successful career of more than 20 years and brings a tremendous amount of experience and leadership to the position. This continuity, our co-CEO structure and Zemin Xu’s qualifications will all help to ensure a smooth transition”
Major stockholder RPL Limited agrees to two-year lockup
RPL Limited, a substantial shareholder of NQ Mobile Inc (ADR) (NYSE:NQ) owned and controlled by the founders of NQ Mobile, has made an agreement to enter into an additional two-year voluntary lock-up due to expire in December 2016. As of October 15, 2014, RPL held 50,352,941 Class B common shares of NQ Mobile, around 11.3% of NQ Mobile’s outstanding shares.
“The lock-up by the Founders underscores our strong confidence in the future of NQ Mobile and our commitment to drive NQ Mobile’s growth as a leading global provider of mobile Internet services,” noted Dr. Shi. “Henry’s need to step down does not take away from our collective belief in NQ Mobile’s strong competitive position. Towards this end, we will be meaningfully adding to our position through our share purchase plan.”
The statement also noted that the founders and NQ Mobile Inc (ADR) (NYSE:NQ)’s senior management have reiterated their plans to buy additional shares in the future.
