Judge says ‘enough is enough’ after developer, which has $300bn in debt, fails to provide convincing restructuring plan
Embattled Chinese development company, Evergrande, has been ordered to liquidate by a Hong Kong court after an 18-month long hearing.
Evergrande, which holds the ignominious title of the world’s most indebted property developer with about $300bn in liabilities, failed to convince the court that it had a viable restructuring plan, after having been given seven extensions since court proceedings were first brought in June 2022. However it can still appeal.
Justice Linda Chan delivered the ruling on Monday morning, saying “it is time for the court to say enough is enough”.
The liquidation petition was lodged by Top Shine in June 2022, an investor in Evergrande unit Fangchebao which said the developer had failed to honour an agreement to repurchase shares it had bought in the subsidiary.
Evergrande had been working on a $23bn debt revamp plan but this fell apart in September when the company announced its founder, billionaire Hui Ka Yan, was under investigation for “suspected illegal crimes”.
