China's Country Garden proposes deal to restructure offshore debt

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Chinese property developer Country Garden (HK:2007 ) on Thursday proposed a deal to restructure offshore debt 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 (HK:3333 ) Group.

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 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)

(This story has been corrected to remove the $10.3 billion debt figure, which was the bond size, not the total debt restructuring, in the headline and paragraph 1)

Source: Investing.com