In a dramatic conclusion to a months-long saga, the assets of Chinese flexible display maker Royole have finally been sold at auction for 503.9 million yuan ($70.5 million), less than half their initial asking price. The sole bidder, reportedly HKC, acquired the company’s extensive manufacturing facilities and equipment in Shenzhen’s Longgang District.
This sale marks a stark fall from grace for Royole, which was once valued at $6 billion and stood at the forefront of flexible display technology. Founded in 2012, the company made headlines in 2014 when it created an ultra-thin flexible display measuring just 0.01mm in thickness. By 2015, Royole was confident enough to invest 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) in a Shenzhen production facility, and later launched two generations of foldable phones, the FlexPai 1 and 2, in 2018 and 2020 respectively.
Despite attracting 6.197 billion yuan ($867 million) in equity financing and 3.653 billion yuan ($511 million) in debt financing, Royole’s fortunes began to decline by late 2021. Multiple attempts at an IPO failed, and the company soon found itself unable to pay its workers. More than 300 employees, some of whom went unpaid for up to 17 months, filed for bankruptcy review. The total owed to employees exceeded 100 million yuan ($14 million), including promised equity.
The Shenzhen Intermediate Court eventually declared bankruptcy for three Royole entities. The company’s assets, including twelve buildings and nearly 2,000 pieces of specialized equipment, went through five rounds of auctions. The first auction in December 2024 started at 1.23 billion yuan ($172 million) but attracted no bidders despite drawing 18,000 viewers. Each subsequent auction saw a lower starting price, until the final successful sale at 503.9 million yuan ($70.5 million).
The sold assets include an industrial park with 96,095 square meters of land and over 223,000 square meters of building space. The equipment alone was valued at 445.78 million yuan ($62.3 million) and includes specialized machinery for flexible display manufacturing, such as automated dispensing machines, aging test equipment, and chemical vapor deposition machines.
