Chinese property developer Guangzhou R&F faces bankruptcy restructure demand

Guangzhou R&F Properties

13/07/2023 10:24

HONG KONG/BEIJING, July 13 (Reuters) - Two creditors of
China's Guangzhou R&F Properties  2777.HK  have sued the
property developer to seek a bankruptcy restructuring, notices
in an official database showed, deploying a rare court tactic
against a mid-sized firm of its kind. 
    While many developers, including R&F, have faced legal
action by creditors for non-repayment, such restructuring
requests to Chinese courts are uncommon, as government officials
usually step in to mediate, developers and lawyers said.
    Many of them, however, face winding-up petitions in Hong
Kong and overseas jurisdictions. 
    Wednesday's notices showed that Guangdong Xiangyi Trading Co
and Guangzhou Guangfeng Concrete Ltd filed the bankruptcy
restructuring applications in the Guangzhou Intermediate
People's Court, but gave no further details.
    The creditor firms could not immediately be reached for
comment.
    R&F, which ranked No.20 in China in 2020 before the sector
slipped into a debt crisis the following year, also owned
several projects overseas, in places such as Britain and
Malaysia before its liquidity problems. 
    Media, citing company database portals, have reported that
the courts have so far ordered the freezing of a dozen assets of
the developer.
    R&F did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
    The developer, which has sought to extend its debts onshore,
also completed a scheme offshore last year to exchange its
dollar bonds maturing through 2024.
    The database on which the notices appeared is formally known
as the National Enterprise Bankruptcy Information Disclosure
Platform. 
($1=7.1588 Chinese yuan)

 (Reporting by Clare Jim and Beijing newsroom; Editing by
Clarence Fernandez)
 ((clare.jim@thomsonreuters.com;))