Milestone Victory – Securing a Winding-up Order against China Properties Group Limited despite multiple challenges
On 31 May 2023, we secured a landmark victory for our client JIC Trust Co., Ltd. (JIC Trust) in obtaining a winding-up order from the High Court of Hong Kong against China Properties Group Limited (1838.HK) (CPG).
CPG is an investment holding company incorporated in the Cayman Islands and whose shares are listed on the main board of HKEx. CPG and its subsidiaries engage principally in the development of residential and commercial real estate projects in Mainland China. CPG defaulted on numerous loans and was subject to an ever increasing number of on-shore and off-shore credit actions.
CPG made multiple attempts to resist the winding-up petition, raising arguments which rained from technical to vacuous. These included (i) challenges to jurisdiction of the Hong Kong court, (ii) attempting to attack the petitioning debt on the basis of court actions against our client in the Mainland China; and (iii) various applications to adjourn the matter on the basis of numerous purported restructuring / refinancing proposals. During the course of the winding-up petition, the HKEx decided to cancel CPG’s listing, and CPG tried to use that as a reason to delay the winding-up petition on the basis that it filed an application for leave to the High Court of Hong Kong to apply for judicial review against the Listing Review Committee’s decision. We persevered and successfully overcame the Company’s objections to the petition. The Court found no merits in the numerous arguments advanced by CPG and made a winding up order against it on 31 May 2023. The Judgment can be found here.
We continue to be committed to securing our client’s best interests. If you have exposures in the real estate sector, please contact our Special Counsel, Davyd Wong.
Please refer to the announcement published by CPG for further information: https://www1.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2023/0601/2023060101260.pdf
YTL LLP is a law firm headquartered in Hong Kong, China. This article is general in nature is not intended to constitute legal advice.
