LeEco scraps deal for soccer club equity

Chinese technology major LeEco said on Thursday its sports unit has canceled an investment deal with a major local soccer club, after the two sides failed to reach an agreement on "core issues".

Le Sports said it had paid the sponsorship fees according to the contract, but a disagreement with Beijing Guoan soccer club on "core issues" led to the collapse of an equity partnership between the two sides.

The Beijing-based firm signed a 100-million-yuan ($14.9 million) title sponsorship deal with Beijing Guoan in January. It was also widely reported that LeEco would buy half of the club's ownership for about 2 billion yuan.