BEIJING (Reuters) – A Chinese court said on Wednesday it is seeking administrators in the event that it accepts bankruptcy and re-organisation proceedings involving China’s third-largest stainless steel firm, Jiangsu Delong Nickel Industry, and three other firms.
Since July 2, Delong ownership stakes worth more than two billion yuan ($276.54 million) in subsidiaries have been frozen by courts in Shanghai and Xiamen, company information provider Qichacha showed.
In its statement, the People’s Court of Xiangshui County cited the “large number of creditors and complex legal relationships in the above-mentioned cases” in initiating the process to pre-appoint administrators for Jiangsu Delong Nickel Industry and three other firms, including two subsidiaries.
“The four bankruptcy and reorganization cases … are still in the stage of acceptance and review, and whether or not to accept them is subject to the final ruling of this court,” it said.
The four companies could not immediately be reached by phone on Thursday. Unlisted Delong Nickel, which is based in Jiangsu province, also did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Separately, a petition seeking bankruptcy proceedings for Delong was filed in the same court on Wednesday by Xiangshui Guanjiang Xincheng Construction and Development Limited Co, according to a government platform.
Similar petitions against the other three firms were filed by three separate companies.
Guanjiang Xincheng is controlled by state-owned Guanjiang Holding Group, which said on its website that it had worked with Delong in nickel and steel trade.
Guanjiang Xincheng could not immediately be reached by phone, and Guanjiang Holding could not be reached by phone and did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
($1 = 7.2323 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Siyi Liu, Amy Lv, Mei Mei Chu and Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Tony Munroe and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
