The second largest Parkson store is officially opened at Vivacity megamall.
KUALA LUMPUR: An intermediate people’s court in China has ordered a freeze of the bank deposits of two units of Parkson Retail Group Ltd (PRGL) -- the Hong-Kong-listed subsidiary of Parkson Holdings Bhd
-- in a dispute over a loan agreement.
In a notice to The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Ltd, PRGL said its indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries Changshou Parkson Retail Development Co Ltd (Parkson Development) and Parkson Investment Holdings Co Ltd (Parkson Investment) were involved in a litigation where they, together with four other parties, were named defendants.
The four include PRGL’s landlord Changshou Hang Lung Properties Co Ltd, the owner of the premises that it is using as a department store on the first floor underground and the five floors above ground of Hang Lung Centre in Changshou, Jiangsu.
PRGL, which is 54.67% owned by Parkson Holdings, said the Intermediate People’s Court of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, issued a civil judgment dated June 7 in relation to a dispute related to the loan agreement of which China Construction Bank Corp, Changshou branch was the plaintiff while Changshou Hang Lung Properties, Parkson Development, Parkson Investment and three other parties were defendants.
On July 10, 2009, Parkson Investment, Parkson Development and the landlord entered into an agreement to transfer the tenancy under the original tenancy agreement signed in December 2008, with Parkson Development replacing Parkson Investment as tenant.
Parkson Development received a notice of assistance in enforcement (dated Thursday last week) issued by the Intermediate People’s Court of Suzhou as well as the civil judgment dated June 7.
The court has agreed to China Construction Bank’s request for “an order on preservation of properties”, that is, the defendants’ bank deposits totalling 212.41 million yuan (RM125.84mil), or an equivalent value of other assets, be frozen.
PRGL said the defendants could apply for a review of the judgment, but the enforcement of the judgment would not be suspended pending the review.
A legal adviser, appointed by the company, said based on the information available to date, there was no reasonable ground to explain why Parkson Development and Parkson Investment were involved in the suit.
“The company is seeking further information and clarification in this regard and will issue further announcement(s) as and when appropriate,” PRGL said.
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