Country Garden’s entire offshore debt to be in default if Tuesday payment not made
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Lack of payment of a US$15 million coupon would make Country Garden the latest among scores of Chinese developers that have defaulted.
PHOTO: AFP
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HONG KONG – Country Garden’s entire offshore debt
Non-payment of this tranche is set to trigger cross-defaults in other bonds, as is standard in bond contracts.
Lack of payment – which is expected after Country Garden last week warned about its inability to meet offshore debt obligations – would make the firm the latest among scores of Chinese developers that have defaulted.
Country Garden has also missed other offshore payments in the past few weeks although those payments still have not seen their 30-day grace periods lapse.
Country Garden declined to comment.
With nearly US$11 billion of offshore bonds and US$6 billion of offshore loans, a default by Country Garden would set the stage for one of China’s biggest corporate debt restructurings.
Country Garden has appointed Houlihan Lokey, China International Capital Corporation and law firm Sidley Austin as advisers to examine its capital structure and liquidity position
Last week, printed circuit board maker Kingboard Holdings became one of the first known listed companies to take legal action against Country Garden when a unit, which is owed HK$1.6 billion (S$280.1 million), issued a statutory demand seeking repayment.
So far, developers accounting for 40 per cent of Chinese home sales have defaulted on their debt obligations since 2021, according to JPMorgan.
CreditSights figures show that Chinese developers have defaulted on more than US$114.6 billion of US$175 billion in dollar bonds outstanding since 2021.
As more developers move towards restructuring debt, their offshore creditors are expected to be offered less favourable terms amid a worsening outlook for the country’s real estate sector. REUTERS
