Country Garden Wins Approval to Extend Yuan Bond With Sweetener

Distressed Chinese builder Country Garden Holdings Co. won bondholder approval on the last of a batch of eight local notes it sought to stretch out repayments on, after the vote was extended three times and a proposal to add a credit enhancement was made.

(Bloomberg) — Distressed Chinese builder Country Garden Holdings Co. won bondholder approval on the last of a batch of eight local notes it sought to stretch out repayments on, after the vote was extended three times and a proposal to add a credit enhancement was made.

Two bondholders said they were briefed by an underwriter Tuesday that the proposal to extend the 492 million yuan ($67 million) note was passed. They asked not to be named discussing a private matter. The vote’s latest deadline was 10 p.m. Monday Beijing time.

Country Garden didn’t immediately offer a comment when reached Tuesday.

A Monday filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s private disclosure system seen by Bloomberg News said that Country Garden unit Guangdong Giant Leap Construction Co. would provide no less than 200 million yuan as a pledged guarantee for the note if the payment extension passed. The credit enhancement proposal was added on Monday, according to one person familiar with the matter. The unit issued the bond, which has an Oct. 21 maturity date.

Country Garden last week won approval from bondholders to extend seven other onshore notes. Along with another bond extended earlier this month, the nine notes’ combined principal is 14.7 billion yuan. 

The extensions provide the company with breathing room as it deals with plunging contracted sales and other debt obligations. Country Garden — helmed by Yang Huiyan, one of China’s richest women — was once the nation’s largest builder before becoming engulfed in a broader property debt crisis and ultimately warning in August it may default. 

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