The liquidators, Edward Middleton and Tiffany Wong of Alvarez & Marsal, said on Thursday that they aimed to make a first interim dividend payment to creditors in the first half of 2027, although the amount has yet to be determined.
The announcement came in their second progress report since a Hong Kong court ordered the real estate major’s liquidation in January 2024.
Evergrande, once China’s second-largest property developer, defaulted on most of its roughly USD 300 billion in liabilities and became a symbol of the property crisis that has weighed on the world’s second-largest economy.
The liquidation process has moved at a glacial pace, according to the liquidators, as they seek to recover assets across a complex group.
The USD 435.9 million recovered so far came from sales of assets, including aircraft, artwork, and club memberships, as well as the settlement of loan receivables.
The liquidators said 96 of the 107 artworks found at Evergrande’s Hong Kong headquarters had been sold for USD 28.8 million at a loss.
The collection included works by Picasso, Monet, and Warhol, as well as sculptures by Moore and Hepworth.
Other assets being sold include a private jet expected to fetch about USD 12 million in the fourth quarter.
The liquidators are also seeking a USD 2 million refund from an American university for part of a donation made in 2020.
The liquidators have taken control of more than 100 Evergrande subsidiaries across multiple jurisdictions, but said prospects for recovering assets held by mainland Chinese subsidiaries were “considered remote.”
Industry experts say the liquidation could take more than a decade to complete given the scale and complexity of the group.
A potential sale of Evergrande’s property services unit could mark progress in the effort to repay creditors.
Asia-focused investment firm PAG is in exclusive talks to acquire a majority stake in Evergrande Property Services, according to two people close to the transaction.
Evergrande Property Services said on September 30 that China Evergrande Group and CEG Holdings (BVI), its controlling shareholders, had entered an exclusivity agreement with a selected bidder for a potential sale of their shares in the company.
The company did not disclose the bidder’s name.
The exclusivity period would end on October 27, Evergrande Property Services said in September.
As per Bloomberg, the liquidators informed the indebted developer a year ago that they were seeking to sell a 51.016% stake in the property services company.
The exclusivity agreement still governs the potential sale, and the bidder’s identity and financial terms remain undisclosed.
If a deal materialises, it would mark major progress in the liquidators’ effort to recover creditors’ claims, which total about USD 45 billion.
The company had a market value of slightly under USD 1.6 billion as of October 9, LSEG data showed. Its share price has dropped 87% since its IPO in 2020.
PAG has experience in China’s property management sector.
In 2024, it led a group of investors to acquire a 60% stake in the mall unit of developer Dalian Wanda Group for USD 8.3 billion.
In August, Evergrande founder Hui Ka Yan, 67, was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Chinese court, which also ordered the confiscation of his personal assets.
Evergrande’s liquidation follows a sweeping property crackdown in China that started six years ago.
A Hong Kong court ordered the group liquidated in 2024, and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange delisted it in 2025, bringing an end to a tumultuous boom-to-bust saga.