HONG KONG: China Evergrande Group's liquidators have recovered US$435.9 million from asset sales and loan recoveries so far, highlighting the challenge of repaying creditors with claims of about US$46 billion against the developer.
In their second progress report since a Hong Kong court ordered Evergrande's liquidation in January 2024, the liquidators, Edward Middleton and Tiffany Wong of Alvarez & Marsal, said on Thursday they aimed to make a first interim dividend payment to creditors in the first half of 2027, although the amount has yet to be determined.
Evergrande, once China's top property developer, defaulted on most of its roughly US$300 billion in liabilities and became a symbol of the property crisis that has weighed on the world's second-largest economy.
The liquidators said they had raised the US$435.9 million through the sale of assets including aircraft, artwork and club memberships, as well as the settlement of loan receivables.
They said 96 of the 107 artworks found at Evergrande's Hong Kong headquarters had been sold for US$28.8 million at a loss. The collection included works by Picasso, Monet and Warhol, as well as sculptures by Moore and Hepworth.
Other assets being sold include a private jet expected to fetch about US$12 million in the fourth quarter. The liquidators are also seeking a US$2 million refund from a US university for part of a donation made in 2020.
The liquidators have taken control of more than 100 Evergrande subsidiaries across multiple jurisdictions, but said prospects for recovering assets held by mainland Chinese subsidiaries were "considered remote."
In August, Evergrande founder Hui Ka Yan, 67, was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Chinese court, which also ordered the confiscation of his personal assets.
Industry experts say Evergrande's liquidation could take more than a decade to complete given the scale and complexity of the group.--REUTERS
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