Peking University Founder Group (PUFG) was once the poster child for the entrepreneurial spirit that flowed from the hallowed halls of China's elite universities in the 1980s as reform and opening-up fever gripped the country. Today, it has become yet another example of a debt-ridden sprawling conglomerate undergoing a court-mandated bankruptcy reorganization after years of reckless expansion built on unsustainable debt, with some corruption thrown in for good measure.
Many of the other high-profile corporate busted flushes that have been through the bankruptcy restructuring or liquidation mill were victims of massive corruption or asset-stripping by their previous owners, or weak players in their sectors or in industries with poor prospects. But PUFG has a portfolio of attractive assets in growth areas, including medical and health care operations, a securities brokerage, an insurance business that comes with a coveted insurance license, microelectronics and real estate.
