China’s Kaisa says bondholders not asking for faster repayments

Kaisa Group said it has not received any notice from bondholders to accelerate repayments yet as the embattled Chinese property developer has not repaid a $400m offshore bond.

The firm said on Monday that it also did not pay the coupon totalling $105m for notes due in 2023, 2025, and 2026, with the grace period for the first two already expired.

The non-payment on the $400m maturity on December 7 triggered cross-default provision on all its $12bn offshore bonds and prompted a downgrade to “restricted default” by Fitch Ratings.

Kaisa is the second-largest dollar bond issuer among China’s property developers after China Evergrande Group, which has more than $300bn in liabilities.

The fate of Kaisa, Evergrande and other indebted Chinese property companies has gripped financial markets in recent months amid fears of knock-on effects, with Beijing repeatedly seeking to reassure investors.

Shares of Kaisa tumbled 8.7 percent to HK$0.84 in the early session on resumed trading, a record low, after a suspension since December 8.

Restructuring deal

Kaisa said it was still in talks with bondholders over a debt restructuring deal and it had hired Houlihan Lokey as its financial adviser and Sidley Austin as a legal adviser.

Kaisa was in talks with Lazard, the adviser of a group of offshore bondholders, to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), the Reuters news agency has reported, laying the groundwork for further discussions on forbearance and financing solutions.

The group planned to use up to $1bn in order to buy bad loans from the Chinese developer’s onshore creditors, sources said last week.

In the Monday filing, the developer added that after a significant decline in sales in October and November, it expects the confidence of potential property purchasers to remain subdued in December.