Yahoo Finance Chinese Developer Kaisa Returns to Court for Liquidation Hearing
(Bloomberg) -- Few Chinese developers symbolize the long path to resolving the property debt crisis quite like Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd., which will be trying to fend off liquidation in a Hong Kong court Monday.
Most Read from Bloomberg
How Long Can High Rates Last? Bond Markets Say Maybe Forever
Russia Is Storing Up a Crime Wave When Its War on Ukraine Ends
Yen Is Under Pressure Even as Japan Steps Up Its Verbal Warnings
CDK Hackers Want Millions in Ransom to End Car Dealership Outage
After multiple delays since a petition to wind up the builder was filed about 11 months ago, Kaisa must show progress in formulating proposals to restructure its debt, or risk being ordered to sell off assets to repay creditors. The company has more than $11 billion of dollar securities outstanding, one of the largest loads of its kind.
Once an icon of the boom years, before becoming a symbol of the perils of binging on debt, Kaisa has yet to publicly present a restructuring plan more than two years after defaulting on offshore bonds. That stumble was among the first signs of broader sector woes. It was an irony, too, because the firm had bounced back after an initial dollar note default in 2015 that was the first ever for any Chinese builder.
Fast forward nearly a decade, and Kaisa is hardly alone. Monday marks the start of one of the busiest weeks ever in Hong Kong courts for Chinese property companies, several years after steps to curb borrowing and speculation by homebuyers sparked an unprecedented string of debt failures.
DaFa Properties Group Ltd. also faces Hong Kong judges for the third time Monday. That’s followed on Wednesday by Shimao Group Holdings Ltd., whose landmark projects include five-star hotels in Shanghai, as well as Redsun Properties Group Ltd., which will have its second hearing.
China has recently ramped up measures to rescue the sector, including relaxing mortgage rules. While that’s helped, a large chunk of the debt market remains deeply distressed. Dollar notes issued by firms such as Kaisa and Shimao, for example, are still indicated below five cents on the dollar—underscoring how little investors expect to recoup.
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
