Debt-ridden Peace Mark, a Hong Kong watch retailer, said yesterday it has appointed a provisional liquidator, nearly a month after the firm suspended its shares and sought a "white knight" suitor to shore up its balance sheet.

Peace Mark, which sells such brands as Rolex, Omega, Rado and Tissot, said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange that the liquidator, Ferrier Hodgson Ltd, "will be undertaking an urgent assessment of the operations of Peace Mark... to determine the optimal strategy to maximize the return to stakeholders".

On Sept 3 the firm announced that it could not repay HK$1.22 billion dollars to the banks, capping months of speculation that it was in dire financial straits.

The embattled firm was seeking deals with private equity firms CVC Capital and Carlyle Group.

"We were appointed liquidators yesterday (Wednesday)," Ferrier Hodgson Executive Director Rob Sutton said yesterday. "The application was made by a number of banks following a lack of confidence in the ability to undertake a restructuring."

Sutton said the application was made to a Hong Kong court. He added that the process would take a couple of weeks, and that there was "absolutely" a chance of rescuing the company.

On Wednesday, Peace Mark held a meeting with creditors to seek solutions. But a representative from one of the creditors said after the meeting that "there was no good news".

Peace Mark owes money to at least 41 institutions including CITIC Ka Wah Bank, BNP, Chong Hing Bank and JPMorgan, a Reuters report said on Wednesday.

Reuters contributed to the story

(HK Edition 09/12/2008 page2)