In an effort to recover funds from overseas investors, Evergrande liquidators are reportedly selling a private Airbus jet owned by Xu Jiayin, the real estate developer with the highest global debt.
According to a report by the Financial Times, Evergrande liquidators have taken control of the offshore entity that purchased Xu Jiayin’s jet and are now listing the aircraft for sale.
In January of this year, a Hong Kong court issued a winding-up order against China’s heavily indebted Evergrande Group and appointed Eddie Middleton and Tiffany Wong, who previously handled the liquidation of Lehman Brothers’ extensive Asian operations, as Evergrande’s liquidators.
Sources have revealed that the aircraft up for sale is a 14-year-old Airbus A319 business jet currently parked in Guangzhou, China. Liao Xuefeng, Chairman and CEO of China Business Aviation Group, stated that the jet is “larger and more expensive” compared to other private aircraft, with an estimated value of around $25 to $30 million, whereas a brand new model of the same aircraft would cost approximately $90 million.
International credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s has described the task of liquidating Evergrande as extremely challenging, as the large enterprise carries a debt of $337 billion, with most of its assets and liabilities located in mainland China, outside the jurisdiction of Hong Kong courts.
The sale of this aircraft by the liquidators will test their ability to assert control over assets under different legal systems in mainland China and Hong Kong. If successful, this would mark an initial step towards the liquidators’ efforts to recover cash for overseas investors affected by Evergrande’s default in 2021.