Country Garden Begins Court Battle Against Liquidation Threat

(Bloomberg) — Country Garden Holdings Co. has begun a major legal battle, squaring off in a Hong Kong court against a creditor seeking the liquidation of the defaulted Chinese developer.

A Hong Kong court on Friday adjourned the first hearing of the case until June 11, when Country Garden will make the case that it can come up with a plan for its debt obligations, months after a winding-up petition was filed against it by a creditor, a unit of laminate maker Kingboard Holdings Ltd. The creditor said that Country Garden failed to make payments on a term loan facility of about HK$1.6 billion ($205 million), plus accrued interest, according to an exchange filing.