‘No reliable evidence’ Taipan bakery chain can settle debts: Hong Kong judge
Deputy Judge Gary Lam says parent company Vast Luck has twice failed to pay debts, leading to breach of earlier pledge to court
A Hong Kong judge has said his decision to order the winding-up of bakery chain Taipan’s parent company is due to there being “no reliable evidence” that the business can settle its outstanding rent of more than HK$2 million (US$256,500).
In a written judgment released on Tuesday, Deputy Judge Gary Lam Chin-ching of the High Court said Vast Luck Company Limited had twice failed to pay its debts, resulting in a breach of what the business earlier stated in court.
The winding-up order was handed down verbally earlier in the week, with the court later providing the written judgment explaining its decision.
Court documents showed the company owed the order’s petitioner a debt of more than HK$2 million, representing outstanding rent due and owed between June 2025 and August 2025.
“Further and in any event, there was no reliable evidence as to the company’s ability to settle the debt,” Lam said in his judgment.
Vast Luck’s Taipan bakery chain was recognised as a top Hong Kong brand for its invention of “snow skin” mooncakes, but shut down all its branches in June last year after 41 years in business.