Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
March 22, 2021
The Company respectfully advises the Staff that management organizes the Company as a single segment for making operating decisions and assessing performance.
The Company’s current CEO, Mr. Hui (Peter) Zhang, is identified as the chief operating decision maker (“CODM”). The Company’s CODM regularly reviews the operating results of the Company through a single operating segment to make decisions about resources and assess its performance, while revenue and certain operating data such as monthly active users (“MAU”), fulfilled orders and gross transaction value (“GTV”) of the Company are reviewed on a more disaggregated basis to identify performance challenges and opportunities.
The Company respectfully advises the Staff that its operating segment was identified in accordance with the guidance in ASC 280-10-50-1, which states that an operating segment is a component of a public entity that has all of the following characteristics:
a. It engages in business activities from which it may earn revenues and incur expenses (including revenues and expenses relating to transactions with other components of the same public entity).
b. Its operating results are regularly reviewed by the public entity’s chief operating decision maker to make decisions about resources to be allocated to the segment and assess its performance.
c. Its discrete financial information is available.
The Company earns revenues and incurs expenses from three business units (“BU”): platform services BU, freight brokerage services BU and value added services BU. Platform services BU is responsible for all users (both truckers and shippers) related activities such as user acquisition, membership, matching, etc.; Brokerage service BU is responsible for Manyunbao service provided to corporate shippers; and value added services BU is responsible for all value added services including credit solutions and agency services provided to other third-party vendors.
Each BU has a BU leader who reports to the CEO on a regular basis and has a different focus. BU leaders are responsible for their individual business unit and the CODM is making operating decisions and assessing performance of the Company as a whole, in part based on interactions with the BU leaders. BU leaders are directly accountable and maintain regular contact with the CODM to discuss operating activities, key operating data, forecasts and plans for each business unit as described in ASC 280-10-50-7 and should be viewed, collectively, as operating segment management.
The Company’s strategy is to continue expanding its overall GTV, with a focus on expansion and increase of number of shippers and truckers, and the volume of transactions facilitated through the platform. The information the CODM regularly reviews to monitor the Company’s performance and allocate resources has been driven by the Company’s strategy and principally focuses on industry metrics.
The monthly reporting package provided to the CODM includes:
| • | | Monthly and Year to Date financial information on a consolidated basis including bank balances located in domestic and offshore financial institutions, revenue by service type and flux analysis, total cost and operating expenses and flux analysis, net income and flux analysis; |
| • | | Operating information separated into three BUs including average number of monthly active shippers/truckers, fulfilled orders, GTV of platform services BU, fulfilled orders, GTV of brokerage services BU, loan balances and allowances by major product types of value added services BU. Except for revenue, no other discrete financial information is available for the three BUs. |
While the BU leaders have discretion over certain levels of decisionmaking for their areas of responsibility, the CODM is solely responsible for decisions related to the allocation of resources on a Company-wide basis. The key industry metrics are generated by the platform and brokerage services BUs while the value added services BU focuses on increasing the shippers and truckers’ stickiness and engagement on the Company’s platform. Major costs and expenses, which are also a basis of the monthly budget submitted for CODM’s approval, including technology infrastructure fees, promotion expenses, etc., are incurred on a Company-wide basis to develop the platform and gain resources of shippers and truckers, and to support the growth of all three BUs. The CODM, therefore, makes resource allocation decisions using Company-wide KPIs (i.e. average shipper MAUs, fulfilled orders and GTV).
The Company also respectfully advises the Staff that after the merger of Yunmanman and Huochebang at the end of 2017, the legal entity structures were carried over from legacy legal structures with two distinct groups that flow into FTA. The Company established a Co-Chief Executive Officer structure for a short period to facilitate a smooth transition. Since the beginning of 2019, the current CEO has served as the sole chief executive officer and overseen the Company as a whole. The Company’s businesses have been integrated and managed centrally and benefited from the merger synergies. The legacy legal structures are expected to remain due to various reasons such as business licenses possessed by different entities, VIE structures, and preferential tax treatment.
21