China Evergrande Group canceled key creditor meetings that had been set for early next week and said it must reassess its proposed restructuring, adding further uncertainty to what would be one of the nation’s biggest ever restructurings.
(Bloomberg) — China Evergrande Group canceled key creditor meetings that had been set for early next week and said it must reassess its proposed restructuring, adding further uncertainty to what would be one of the nation’s biggest ever restructurings.
The distressed developer cited sales that have “not been as expected,” in scrapping the so-called scheme meetings that had been planned for Sept. 25-26, in an exchange filing Friday night.
“Based on the company’s current situation and consultations with its advisors and creditors, the company considers it necessary to re-assess the terms of the proposed restructuring to meet the company’s objective situation and the demand of the creditors,” it said, without elaborating on the demand from creditors.
At the epicenter of China’s property crisis, Evergrande is under pressure to finalize a blueprint for its offshore debt restructuring as it grapples with an even bigger pile of total liabilities that amount to 2.39 trillion yuan ($327 billion). The clock is ticking for the firm to make progress. It faces an Oct. 30 hearing at a Hong Kong court on a winding-up petition, which could potentially force it into liquidatation.
The developer didn’t explain what reassessing debt terms would mean for creditors who have already endorsed the existing restructuring plan, nor did it detail the level of support for its current plan.
It last updated the market on such progress in April, when investors identified as “Class C” creditors, with about $15 billion of claims, emerged as a group that hadn’t given sufficient support. Those holding more than 30% of Class C debt had endorsed the restructruring proposal, far below the 75% needed from each creditor class to implement it through what’s known as a scheme of arrangement.
Another group under China Evergrande Group’s scheme, known as Class A creditors, and accounting for $17 billion of claims, already delivered a support level of over 77% as of the April filing.
Evergrande didn’t provide a new schedule for the meetings, only saying it would make further announcements when there is an update.
The builder had previously postponed creditor meetings that were scheduled to begin Aug. 28. At that time it had cited a desire to let creditors “consider, understand and evaluate” the terms of the schemes and give them more time to consider recent developments, including a share trading resumption.
Earlier this month the company also revised dates of the scheme sanction hearings to October.
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