Evergrande liquidators may sue PwC – Kommersant

Liquidators of one of the largest developers in China, China Evergrande, are preparing for a possible trial with the auditor of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), reported Financial Times (FT) citing own sources. However, sources add, this does not mean that the developer’s liquidators have any evidence of violations by the auditor and that a lawsuit will be filed.

At the end of January, the Hong Kong court, after many months of consideration of the Evergrande case, finally decided to liquidation developer. The court cited the fact that the company, which had been experiencing serious financial problems since the fall of 2021 and had defaulted several times, had failed to provide a clear restructuring plan.

Evergrande Group is a giant of the real estate market with assets worth $240 billion. The debts of one of the largest developers in China exceed $300 billion. In June 2022, the Hong Kong investment firm Top Shine filed a lawsuit for the forced liquidation of Evergrande, since the developer violated the terms of the agreement between the two companies by not purchasing back shares of one of its divisions – Fangchebao. Other Evergrande creditors later joined the lawsuit.

At the same time, analysts noted that the process of liquidating a Chinese company by decision of a Hong Kong court would be very difficult and could drag on for years.

Kirill Sarkhanyants