Evergrande liquidation law firm probing PwC, others for potential claims

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

liquidators of China Evergrande Group are investigating some of the property developer's service providers including its former auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers, to potentially recoup losses for creditors, three sources said.

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.

As part of the liquidation process, Hong Kong-based law firm Karas So is working with the two court-appointed Evergrande liquidators, Tiffany Wong and Eddie Middleton from Alvarez and Marsal (A&M), said the three sources, who have knowledge of the matter.

The move, which is common in liquidation cases, indicates initial steps being taken towards liquidation of the world's most indebted property developer with more than $300 billion of total liabilities.

A&M, Evergrande, and Karas So declined to comment, while PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.

Evergrande's liquidation could take more than a decade to be completed, according to some offshore investors, and become a blueprint for future major Chinese corporate winding up processes.

Reuters reported in March, citing sources, that lawyers working on Evergrande's liquidation will look for evidence of wrongdoing and negligence across the company, its management and external advisers that could have