彭博社9月14日报道，伴随中国恒大集团债务危机不断升级，负责协调恒大及其债权人关系的广东省政府上月已指派金杜律师事务所的一个团队对恒大展开调查。广东省同时在遴选会计师事务所和财务顾问加入联合工作组，或是为这家全球负债最多的开发商潜在的重组做准备。
根据路透社报道，1996年成立于广州的中国恒大如今负债近2万亿元人民币，有可能成为国内多年来最大的破产案之一。
根据金杜律师事务所官网介绍，“金杜是中国最早提供公司债务重组服务的律师事务所之一，也是最早将重整程序运用于债务重组实践的律师事务所之一”。近年来金杜参与了一系列在中国最具影响力的破产重整案件，包括2020年华晨集团破产案，以及东北特钢、重庆钢铁、丹东港破产重整案等。
据金融媒体Reorg报道，今年1月，河北省政府引入中金公司、金杜律师事务所，开始对开发商华夏幸福展开尽职调查，以解决其债务问题。
根据金杜官网，该所曾在一系列交易中担任恒大律师，包括2020年底恒大物业赴港上市、2021年3月恒大旗下房车宝引入战略投资项目等。金杜还曾代理过一系列恒大海外发债项目。
China brings in KWM to prepare for Evergrande’s possible restructuring: report
The Chinese government is assembling a group of accounting and legal experts to examine the finances of China Evergrande Group, the country’s second-largest property developer by sales, Bloomberg reported. This group includes King & Wood Mallesons.
Bloomberg said that regulators in Evergrande’s home province of Guangdong dispatched a KWM team last month, “adding to signs that Chinese authorities are laying the groundwork for what could be one of the country’s biggest debt restructurings.” KWM did not respond to a request for comment from ALB.
Reuters reported earlier that Evergrande, founded in 1996 in the provincial capital of Guangzhou, now has about $305 billion in liabilities.
Restructuring is one of KWM’s specialties. The firm’s website describes it as “one of the first law firms to provide debt restructuring service and to put restructuring in practice in China.” KWM has been involved in multiple high-profile restructuring cases in China, including that of the state-owned Brilliance Auto Group in 2020, and the early cases of Dongbei Special Steel Group and Chongqing Iron & Steel.
According to finance media Reorg, the Hebei government also hired KWM back in January for the restructuring of local property developer China Fortune.
Interestingly, Evergrande is also one of KWM’s clients. The law firm advised it on the 2020 Hong Kong IPO of Evergrande Property, and the strategic investment of its online home and car sales platform FCB Group. The firm also represented Evergrande in some offshore bond issuance deals.
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