Hong Kong court orders winding up of California Fitness’ parent company
Provisional liquidator says potential investor is interested in JV Fitness’ assets
A Hong Kong court on Wednesday ordered the winding up of the parent company of shuttered gym chain California Fitness after the group failed to pay off the debt owed to a renovation company.
But an accountancy firm tasked with managing JV Fitness said a potential buyer was still interested in the chain’s assets.
Master Simon Lo Kit-man gave the liquidation order after BeSpark, which filed a petition in June to recoup losses from unpaid fees totalling about HK$7 million for renovation services provided to JV Fitness, told the court it had yet to receive the sum.
The renovation company was under the control of JV Fitness’s former owner Wong Ping-kuen, who sold the gym chain to his brother Wong Lun.
Other parties to the petition, including a former employee, did not raise an objection to the winding up of JV Fitness.
The operator of California Fitness, mYoga and Leap had about 64,000 members and 700 employees before it closed all its 12 outlets across the city in July.
It was said to have lost HK$117 million over the past two years.
On Wednesday, ShineWing, the provisional liquidator responsible for managing JV Fitness, said its discussion with a potential investor would continue after the winding up order was made.
The potential investor was interested in buying JV Fitness’s assets, the provisional liquidator said.
ShineWing earlier said the gym chain’s members, as unsecured creditors who did not hold security, were unlikely to get a refund.
Should claims relating to debts be dealt with, JV Fitness’s secured creditors and former employees, who had not been paid, would be given priority, the provisional liquidator previously said.
