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A British court has given property group JLL permission to keep managing 33 luxury London apartments owned by the ex-wife of China Evergrande’s co-founder, after her assets were frozen in the wake of the Chinese developer’s collapse.
The US-listed group runs letting and management services for the flats near the river Thames on behalf of Ding Yumei, the former wife of property tycoon Hui Ka Yan, once China’s richest man but now being held on suspicion of involvement in “illegal crimes”. Ding herself lives in one of the luxury apartments, court filings say.
Judges in London and Hong Kong last year granted injunctions that froze Ding’s assets worldwide, after liquidators were appointed to recoup funds for Evergrande investors. JLL told a London court it was no longer willing to manage the properties unless it was made clear that it had permission to, filings show, a case it has now won.
The lawsuit provides a rare window into the normally discreet dealings between property groups such as JLL and wealthy overseas clients looking to stash their funds in centres like London. JLL employs more than 100,000 people worldwide in businesses ranging from facilities management to advising on multibillion-dollar commercial real estate deals.
Court filings by Evergrande’s liquidators say Ding is “amongst the principal beneficiaries” of “what is understood to be the largest financial fraud to have emerged from mainland China”.
JLL and Ding declined to comment.
The liquidators, Alvarez & Marsal restructuring specialists Eddie Middleton and Tiffany Wong, were appointed a year ago when a Hong Kong judge ordered the winding-up of Evergrande’s holding company, listed in the territory.
They are racing to lay claim to and sell off assets around the world that may enable them to hand money back to creditors. The company had more than $20bn of offshore debt in issue when it defaulted in 2021.
Ding owns the apartments, on Carnation Way in Nine Elms, south of the river Thames, through five companies registered in the British Virgin Islands, according to court filings. JLL provides letting and property management services such as marketing the flats, setting up lease agreements and receiving rent, the filings say.
The Financial Times has identified seven of the properties, which cost £15.6mn.
A court order issued last month says JLL can handle payments in relation to “meeting the costs of insurance and repairs, replacement and/or repair of fixtures and fittings only where necessary and on a ‘like-for-like’ basis, the payment of ground rent and service charges, and payments for utilities”, among other things.
Ding had opposed the court making that order, saying it was unnecessary and prejudiced her position in Hong Kong court proceedings. Evergrande’s liquidators backed JLL’s case, saying: “All parties to the proceedings agree that JLL should continue to provide its services . . . to preserve the value of those properties and ensure that they can continue to generate revenue.”
Additional reporting by Chan Ho-him and Chris Cook
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