Hong Kong property agencies suing Evergrande to recover commissions

Midland Holdings

06/10/2021 04:38

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    HONG KONG, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Two Hong Kong property agencies
are suing heavily indebted China Evergrande Group  3333.HK  over
unpaid commissions, according to a court filing and media
reports, piling pressure on the developer as it scrambles to
raise funds and avert a collapse.
    Centaline filed a suit against Evergrande in September to
recover HK$3.1 million ($398,196) in overdue commissions, a
court filing showed, while the South China Morning Post
newspaper reported Midland Holdings  1200.HK  is claiming unpaid
commission of HK$43.45 million for two developments in Hong
Kong. 
    An executive at Centaline China told Reuters they have also
filed a suit against Evergrande in a Guangzhou court in southern
China, seeking to claim hundreds of millions of yuan it says it
is due.  
    Centaline confirmed to Reuters it filed a claim in Hong Kong
last month, but declined to comment further. Midland declined to
comment, saying the case was going through legal procedures.
Evergrande did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
    Hong Kong's exposure to debt-laden developer China
Evergrande is "very minimal" at 0.05%, or HK$14 billion ($1.79
billion) of banking assets and will not cause any systemic
risks, the newspaper reported on Sunday, citing the city's
Financial Secretary Paul Chan.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2QZ01W    
    Evergrande has vowed to repay its suppliers and contractors
in mainland China as soon as possible, in some cases offering
apartments or other real estate assets, as construction at many
of its sites have halted because of delayed payments.
    With liabilities of $305 billion, Evergrande has sparked
concerns its cash crunch could spread through China's financial
system and reverberate globally, a worry that has eased with the
Chinese central bank's vow last week to protect homebuyers'
interests.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2QW07Z
    Growing worries about defaults at Chinese property
developers triggered a rout in their shares and bonds on Tuesday
with fresh credit rating downgrades and uncertainty about the
fate of cash-strapped China Evergrande Group sapping investor
sentiment.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2R105X    
    Last month it missed coupon payments on two dollar bond
tranches and is scrambling to sell assets to pay creditors,
prioritising repayment to onshore lenders in the last few weeks.
    
($1 = 7.7851 Hong Kong dollars)

 (Reporting by Donny Kwok and Clare Jim; Editing by Kim Coghill)
 ((donny.kwok@thomsonreuters.com; +852 2843 6470;))