China Evergrande's liquidators initiate legal action against PwC, FT reports (updated)

CBRE

07/08/2024 04:10

(Adds PwC response in paragraph 4)
       Aug 6 (Reuters) - Liquidators of troubled property giant
China Evergrande Group  3333.HK  have started legal action
against PricewaterhouseCoopers, accusing it of "negligence" and
"misrepresentation" in its work for the group, the Financial
Times reported on Tuesday.
    Lawyers for the liquidators started the court proceedings
against PwC Hong Kong and PwC Zhong Tian in March, the report
said, citing court documents obtained by the FT.
    The liquidators have also started court proceedings against
commercial real estate services company CBRE Group  CBRE.N  and
investment banking advisory firm Avista Advisory Group over
valuation reports they produced for Evergrande and its
subsidiaries in 2018, the report added.
    PwC declined to comment on the report while Evergrande, CBRE
and Avista did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for
comment.
    Evergrande, once China's largest property developer, was
ordered to be liquidated by a Hong Kong court in January, after
it failed to deliver a concrete restructuring plan for its $23
billion worth of offshore debt deemed to be in default.
    PwC, Evergrande's auditor for almost 14 years until it
resigned in early 2023, has been under a lot of pressure lately
as a result of its work for the company and the Chinese
authorities have been probing PwC's role in auditing Evergrande.

 (Reporting by Surbhi Misra in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi
Aich)
 ((Surbhi.Misra@thomsonreuters.com |  X: https://twitter.com/SurbhiMisra_
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