Chinese Tycoon on the Rebound After $10 Billion Debt Deal

Sun Hongbin knows a thing or two about living on the edge—quite literally. After a business dinner in September, the founder of Sunac China Holdings Ltd. was standing on a riverbank in Sichuan province when he slipped and fell more than 10 feet into a ditch. An emergency response team fished him out and rushed him to a hospital, where he was treated for cuts and bone fractures.

Sun’s confidants see the mishap as a metaphor for three harrowing years that brought his real estate empire to the brink, people who know him say, requesting not to be identified discussing private matters. Just as the chairman himself recovered from the fall, his two-decade-old company is getting back to business after a debt restructuring, making it stand out among the dozens of distressed Chinese developers facing potential collapse or consolidation.