China's Country Garden proposes deal to restructure $10.3 bln offshore debt

Reuters
01-09
UPDATE 1-China's Country Garden proposes deal to restructure $10.3 bln offshore debt

Updates with more detail on restructuring proposal in paragraphs 3 and 4, and background paragraph 5 onwards

HONG KONG, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Chinese property developer Country Garden 2007.HK on Thursday proposed a deal to restructure offshore debt worth $10.3 billion, providing its creditors multiple options including converting debt into cash and extending the maturity.

The update on the restructuring was provided ahead of the company's liquidation hearing on Jan. 20, paving the way for the developer to seek more time from the Hong Kong High Court to implement a restructuring plan.

The proposal provides creditors options between auctioning their debt for cash and receiving mandatory convertible bonds (MCBs) with a maturity date around late-2028.

It also includes three other options to extend the maturity by up to 11-1/2 years alongside choosing new debt instruments, including MCBs and loan facilities.

Once China's biggest property developer, Country Garden defaulted on $11 billion in offshore bonds in late 2023, deepening a debt crisis in the sector that had already experienced defaults by many developers, including China Evergrande Group 3333.HK.

Country Garden's December contracted sales dropped 50% from the previous year to 6.91 billion yuan ($942.43 million), according to a regulatory filing.

The company showed a revised-down cash flow projection to some creditors when it submitted the preliminary terms of its restructuring proposal to them, Reuters reported in November.

A prolonged property market slump has been weighing on developers' ability to repay debt.

Smaller peer Sunac China 1918.HK has informed some of its offshore creditors it is unlikely to meet a September maturity deadline for its restructured bonds, sources said, as weak sales raise the prospect of a new round of offshore debt restructuring in the property sector.

Country Garden Chairman Yang Huiyan said at a monthly management meeting on Monday that the firm has completed 380,000 homes in 2024, according to the company's WeChat account.

This year, Country Garden will need to complete far fewer homes but it will continue to focus on delivering homes to buyers and restoring its balance sheet, Yang added.

The developer will hold a board meeting next Tuesday to approve its overdue 2023 audited annual results and 2024 unaudited interim results.

Shares of the company have been suspended since April 2, 2024, pending the release of the financial results.

($1 = 7.3321 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Sameer Manekar and Clare Jim; Editing by Jamie Freed and Varun H K)

((clare.jim@thomsonreuters.com;))

免責聲明:投資有風險,本文並非投資建議,以上內容不應被視為任何金融產品的購買或出售要約、建議或邀請,作者或其他用戶的任何相關討論、評論或帖子也不應被視為此類內容。本文僅供一般參考,不考慮您的個人投資目標、財務狀況或需求。TTM對信息的準確性和完整性不承擔任何責任或保證,投資者應自行研究並在投資前尋求專業建議。

熱議股票

  1. 1
     
     
     
     
  2. 2
     
     
     
     
  3. 3
     
     
     
     
  4. 4
     
     
     
     
  5. 5
     
     
     
     
  6. 6
     
     
     
     
  7. 7
     
     
     
     
  8. 8
     
     
     
     
  9. 9
     
     
     
     
  10. 10