Exclusive | Kaisa’s offshore creditors ask for stock in Hong Kong newspaper Sing Tao as bond payment option
- Shenzhen-based developer will meet group that says it owns more than 50 per cent of its US$400 million bond, sources say
- Offshore bondholders has offered about US$2 billion in new funds to finance Kaisa through seven options
Embattled Chinese developer Kaisa Group Holdings has agreed to meet its offshore bondholders and discuss ways of repaying loans, including selling convertible bonds that can be exchanged for shares of Hong Kong’s Sing Tao News Corporation.
The Shenzhen-based developer will meet New Money Consortium, a group of bondholders, after they on Tuesday rejected its appeal to exchange US$400 million in notes due in a week with a new 18-month bond, said people familiar with the matter.
The group, which says it owns more than 50 per cent of the US$400 million bond, has offered about US$2 billion in new funds to finance Kaisa through seven options, according to a presentation seen by the Post.
Most bondholders were keen to help Kaisa power through its current liquidity crisis, as a possible liquidation would be a bad result for both the investors and the company, the people familiar said.
Among the options presented by the bondholders was an offer to buy new bonds by Kaisa that could be exchanged with equity in some of the developer’s listed units. These include Kaisa Prosperity, the company’s property management unit, and Sing Tao News Corporation, which runs Hong Kong’s oldest Chinese language newspaper.