HONG KONG, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Stephenson Harwood, on behalf of Dubai International Real Estate ("DIRE"), has issued a winding up petition against Hip Hing Overseas Limited ("Hip Hing Overseas", recently renamed to Bell Tea Overseas Limited). A winding up hearing will be held on 29 August 2018 in Hong Kong.
The High Court of Hong Kong by way of a judgment confirmed that Hip Hing Overseas owes approximately US$20.5 million to DIRE, following a decision of the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce ("ICC") which awarded the sum against Hip Hing Overseas.
The arbitral award followed the late delivery of final completion of the HHHR Tower (or Blue Tower) residential tower construction financed by DIRE in Dubai, some 738 days after the contractual completion date. Hip Hing Overseas was one of the claimants that launched the arbitration and was one of the joint venture parties contracted to construct the development.
Despite changing its name to Bell Tea Overseas Limited following the court orders, Hip Hing Overseas shares some common senior executives with Hip Hing Construction. Mr. Chu Tar Chi, director of Hip Hing Overseas, serves as a managing director of Hip Hing Construction; Mr. Kam Chiu Cheng, known as Stewart and previous director of Hip Hing Construction, is also a director of Hip Hing Overseas.
Stephenson Harwood Partner, Jamie Stranger, acting as legal counsel to DIRE, commented that his client regretted the need to seek a winding up of Hip Hing Overseas. "Ignoring court orders of making payment and a potential liquidation is likely to raise concern for other commercial counterparties, in particular those overseas," he said.
"This debt falls due after a well-considered, lengthy arbitration in the International Court of Arbitration, which reached a unanimous decision in favour of DIRE following a lengthy time overrun on a construction contract and quality issues that continue to need careful management. Significant engagement and discussion was sought with Hip Hing over the debt, but so far the amounts remain unpaid. This is not the behaviour that we expected from one of Hong Kong's most well-known construction firms," said Mr Stranger.
Additional updates will be provided following the 29 August 2018 court hearing in Hong Kong.
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Nan Dong
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FTI Consulting
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