Country Garden gets another debt reprieve as some offshore creditors weigh options
By Jing Bian, Xie Yu and Carolina Mandl
BEIJING/HONG KONG/NEW YORK (Reuters) -Country Garden has won approval from its creditors to extend the maturity of one more onshore bond, two sources said, as the Chinese developer battles to avoid a default amid Beijing's ramped-up efforts to stabilise the crisis-hit property sector.
Some holders of Country Garden's offshore bonds are in talks with law firm Ashurst to form a group to consider options if the developer fails to meet debt repayment obligations, two separate sources familiar with the matter said.
Country Garden's woes are the latest to hit the beleaguered property sector, which was once a pillar of growth in the world's second-largest economy but has become its biggest drag since 2021 in the wake of an unprecedented liquidity crisis.
One of the few large Chinese developers that have not defaulted on debt obligations, Country Garden has been facing liquidity pressure as sales plunged, its interim financial statements show.
Country Garden, China's largest private property developer, has 108.7 billion yuan ($14.9 billion) of debt due within 12 months but only cash of 101.1 billion yuan as of end-June.
In the latest debt reprieve for the developer, creditors approved the maturity extension of one more onshore bond by three years, said the first two sources, who declined to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
A Country Garden spokesperson did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.
Country Garden's onshore creditors voted on Monday for proposals by the distressed developer to extend repayments on eight onshore bonds worth 10.8 billion yuan ($1.48 billion) by three years.
Of those eight Country Garden bonds, maturity extensions for
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