Claire Jim
HONG KONG (Reuters) – A Hong Kong court on Monday granted Chinese property developer Kaisa Group a seven-week extension to finalize a debt restructuring plan, postponing a hearing on a winding up petition for what it said could be the last time.
The High Court adjourned the hearing until August 12 after the plaintiff, representing a key group of bondholders, agreed to Kaisa’s request for more time.
The Shenzhen-based developer is working to restructure its offshore debt after defaulting on $12 billion in offshore debt payments at the end of 2021. At a hearing in April, Kaisa told the court she would complete the conditions by the end of May.
Judge Peter Ng told the court on Monday that he was “not sure whether the (next) judge will allow any further adjournment” and that Kaisa “really has no excuse if (there is) no progress.”
Citicorp International, the bond trustee of the ad hoc bondholder group (AHG), has been the plaintiff since March after the former plaintiff withdrew.
“The AHG has seven members and it takes time to figure out the last minute details,” the group’s senior adviser, Kaisa L.L., said after the hearing. Tam.
According to him, the developer hopes to sign the agreement within two weeks. The deal will involve issuing new shares to creditors, although Chairman Kwok Ying Shing will remain the majority shareholder, Tam said.
By midday, Kaisa’s share price had fallen 5.8%, compared with a 1% fall in the Mainland Properties Index.
Kaisa is the second largest issuer of offshore debt among Chinese developers after China. Evergrande (GK:) The group, however, in 2015 became the first among its peers to default on dollar bonds.
He’s not the only one fighting the liquidation: Creditors are filing lawsuits against Country Garden and other companies. China Evergrande was ordered into liquidation earlier this year.
Chairman Kwok returned to mainland China from Hong Kong for the first time in nearly a decade to seek regulatory approval for an offshore debt restructuring, Reuters reported last week.
He was in Shenzhen for about two months for talks with a government committee and local regulators, sources said.
Tam told Reuters on Monday that Kwok would return to Hong Kong after visiting projects in Shenzhen and ensuring their completion and delivery.