China’s Shattered Property Bond Market Finds Hope in Sunac Deal
- CFO sealed deal with creditors in three meetings in Hong Kong
- Breakthrough came on last day of Feb with debt-to-equity swap
This article is for subscribers only.
For two hours on an early February morning, Sunac China Holdings Ltd. Chief Financial Officer Gao Xi delivered a tirade against bondholders — hitting the table as he told them the distressed developer had already made its best restructuring offer.
The negotiations were fraught enough that some creditors considered walking away during lunch. But Gao returned that afternoon with an apology, paving the way for a deal that took effect last week and marked the first of its kind by a major Chinese builder since Beijing’s deleveraging push three years ago set off a historic industry crisis.