Developer Greentown China plans $350 mln additional bonds to refinance debt (updated)

Greentown China Holdings

18/02/2025 06:14

(Adds details, context, comment from paragraph 2)
    By Clare Jim and Rishav Chatterjee
       Feb 18 (Reuters) - Greentown China  3900.HK  on Tuesday
said it proposed to issue additional bonds worth $350 million to
help refinance its existing borrowings, mirroring a similar move
it made last week. 
    The state-backed property developer last week said it sold
$350 million worth of 8.45% senior notes due in 2028, the first
dollar bond sale in the sector in two years and a sign that some
investor appetite for speculative-grade China property debt
could be returning.
        The additional bonds will have the same tenor and
coupon, Hangzhou-based Greentown said in a filing. The proceeds
from the new issues will be used partly to fund the repurchase
of two of its dollar bonds.
  
        The developer last week offered to buy back $741 million
of outstanding bonds due in April 2025 and July 2025. The firm
will determine the maximum acceptance amount of the repurchase
after the offer expires on February 20. 
  
        The Hong Kong-listed company's refinancing comes amid
heightened investor caution following a spate of defaults in
China's property sector where residential and commercial markets
continued to 
    struggle
    .
  
        S&P Global Ratings said in a note on Friday that
Greentown's proposed notes could boost the developer's liquidity
and provide room for new investments.
  
        S&P added that the issue showed Greentown's access to
funding channels might be expanding beyond onshore bonds and
onshore banks, noting that it had issued 1 billion yuan 
($137.37 million) of onshore bonds in January.    
  
        Deutsche Bank and HSBC are the joint bookrunners of the
proposed additional notes offering. 
  

($1 = 7.2797 Chinese yuan renminbi)

 (Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee in Bengaluru and Clare Jim in
Hong Kong; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Kate Mayberry)
 ((Rishav.Chatterjee@thomsonreuters.com;))