Indebted developer Sunac China faces liquidation threat in Hong Kong
A hearing on the matter has been scheduled for March 19
Beleaguered Chinese property developer Sunac China Holdings may be looking at a second offshore debt restructuring, after its troubles deepened following a liquidation petition filed by China Cinda (HK) Asset Management over an unpaid US$30 million loan.
“Given the impact of the petition on the company, and considering that the current market conditions are significantly below the expectations when the prior offshore debt restructuring plan was formulated, the company does not exclude seeking a more comprehensive holistic offshore debt solution based on the actual situation,” Sunac said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Friday night, adding that it would vigorously oppose the petition.
The company, ranked 18th among Chinese developers by sales, has told some of its bondholders that it may not be able to meet deadlines for repayment on a dollar bond maturing in September, which was part of the first tranche of the restructured notes, Reuters reported on Monday.
Sunac, which won court approval to overhaul its US$9 billion of offshore bonds in late 2023, could come up with a proposal on the restructuring by the end of March, according to a person close to the matter.
More than 700 billion yuan (US$95.5 billion) worth of property bonds are due for repayment in 2025, down from the 770 billion yuan that matured in 2024, according to the China Academy Index. But home sales of the top 100 developers in China fell 28 per cent in 2024 from a year earlier, according to data compiled by the China Real Estate Information Corporation.
