Some bondholders of China developer Kaisa tap adviser to help recover dues -source

Kaisa Prosperity Holdings

23/11/2021 06:24

By Anshuman Daga
    SINGAPORE, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Some offshore bondholders of
embattled Chinese developer Kaisa Group  1638.HK  who did not
receive coupon payments this month have tapped investment bank
Moelis & Co  MC.N  to advise them on the matter, a source with
direct knowledge told Reuters on Tuesday.    
    Kaisa, which has the most offshore debt of any Chinese
developer after China Evergrande Group  3333.HK , has not paid
coupons totalling over $59 million due on Nov. 11 and 12, with
30-day grace periods for both.
    The Shenzhen-based developer has a $400 million maturity on
another dollar bond due on Dec. 7. 
    Bloomberg reported earlier on Tuesday that an ad hoc group
of offshore bondholders is also seeking advice from lawyers at
Kirkland & Ellis, besides Moelis.
    Kaisa declined to comment. There was no immediate comment
from Moelis and Kirkland & Ellis to a Reuters query sent outside
U.S. working hours.
    Chinese developers are facing an unprecedented liquidity
squeeze due to regulatory curbs on borrowings, causing a string
of offshore debt defaults, credit rating downgrades and
sell-offs in some developers' shares and bonds in recent weeks,
with Evergrande at the centre of the crisis.
    Evergrande, the world's most indebted developer, has been
stumbling from debt-repayment deadline to deadline as it
grapples with more than $300 billion in liabilities. Moelis and
Kirkland & Ellis are advising a group of offshore bond holders
of Evergrande.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2S903H
    Fitch downgraded Kaisa's Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer
Default Rating to "C" from "CCC-" last week on the missed coupon
payments.
    The developer, which has also missed some payments on its
wealth management products onshore, had pleaded for help from
creditors this month and said it will not pay interim dividends.
    Kaisa is scrambling for money to repay its debts by asset
disposals. Reuters reported last month it was seeking buyers for
its Hong Kong-listed property management unit Kaisa Prosperity
Holdings  2168.HK  and two residential sites in the city. One of
the sites have been sold recently, one source with direct
knowledge said.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2RP0FH

 (Reporting by Anshuman Daga; Additional reporting by Scott
Murdoch; Writing by Clare Jim; Editing by Muralikumar
Anantharaman)
 ((clare.jim@thomsonreuters.com; +852 2912 6653; Reuters
Messaging: clare.jim.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))