Evergrande signs restructuring agreement with major creditors

Unfinished buildings at China Evergrande Group's Health Valley development on the outskirts of Nanjing, China, on Friday, Oct. 22, 2021. China Evergrande Group pulled back from the brink of default by paying a bond coupon before Saturday’s deadline, giving the property giant at least another week to come to grips with a debt crisis that has rattled investor confidence in the world’s second-largest economy. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

China Evergrande Group said it’s clinched an offshore restructuring deal with a key creditor group, laying a cornerstone in the developer’s debt-overhaul road.

Members of an ad-hoc group of investors holding Evergrande offshore notes signed three restructuring support agreements, according to a Hong Kong stock exchange filing Monday night. Creditors will receive a consent fee for 0.25% of outstanding principal of the respective debts if they agree to the proposal by 5 p.m. Hong Kong time on April 27, the firm added.

The company had said it expected to enter one or more RSAs with the group by the end of March, progress which led to the adjournment of a winding-up court hearing to July 31. Trading in shares will remain suspended until further notice, Evergrande added.

The debt restructuring for Evergrande, the developer central to China’s property crisis, is one the country’s largest ever and carries broad implications for its financial system. The proposal also serves as a reference point for other defaulted Chinese builders working to revamp their leverage loads.

The developer released a debt proposal 15 months after the firm’s first public bond default. Bondholders could receive new notes maturing in 10 to 12 years or a combination of new debt and instruments tied to shares of Evergrande’s property-services unit, its electric-vehicle division or the builder itself. The firm also set a December deadline for the debt restructuring plan to take effect.