HONG KONG (Reuters) – Embattled developer China Evergrande Group plans to publish an offshore debt restructuring term sheet on Wednesday, aiming to sign an agreement with creditors by month-end, it told a Hong Kong court.
A representative of a key offshore bondholder group said after the court hearing that it had agreed on Evergrande’s proposed restructuring terms, a vital move paving the way for the developer to restructure offshore debt of $22.7 billion.
With more than $300 billion in liabilities, including the offshore debt, Evergrande began one of China’s biggest debt restructuring processes early last year.
At Monday’s hearing, the firm said it expected a deal to be signed by the general creditors by the end of March. The restructuring is to take effect from Oct 1.
As Evergrande seeks agreement of general creditors for the restructuring, the court set July 31 for the next hearing of a winding-up petition.
Once China’s top-selling developer, Evergrande has been at the centre of a property debt crisis in which multiple developers defaulted on offshore debt obligations over the past few years, forcing many to enter into debt restructuring talks.
Evergrande has been trying to reach agreement with major offshore bondholders on terms including swapping part of its debt into equity in two listed units in Hong Kong, sources have told Reuters.
The two units are Evergrande Property Services Group and Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group.
In a court hearing last November, Evergrande said it aimed to win creditors’ approval for its debt restructuring proposals by the end of February.
(Reporting by Clare Jim and Xie Yu; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree and Clarence Fernandez)
