Mainland Chinese developer Country Garden gets respite in Hong Kong liquidation case

Embattled mainland Chinese property developer Country Garden Holdings was given a reprieve of almost six month to come up with a debt plan, after a Hong Kong court adjourned a winding-up hearing and asked it to come up with a restructuring blueprint.

Justice Linda Chan on Monday adjourned the case to January 20, 2025, after hearing a litigation by Ever Credit, a unit of Hong Kong-listed laminates and chemicals producer Kingboard Holdings. This is the second time that the court has adjourned the hearing after Ever Credit filed a petition in February to liquidate the firm and recover a HK$1.6 billion loan and the interest accrued on it.

A lawyer representing Country Garden told the court that the developer expected to release restructuring term sheets by the end of September, which will be followed by a Restructuring Support Agreement (RSA).

The company is required to submit the RSA to the court sin earlier January, ahead of the next hearing, according to the court.

The hearing also came amid a growing list of Chinese defaulters that are facing winding-up suits as they struggle to negotiate with creditors and avoid the fate of China Evergrande Group, the world’s most indebted property developer, which was ordered to be liquidated by a Hong Kong court in January.

Country Garden’s peer Shimao Group Holdings faces a winding-up hearing this Wednesday, and Kaisa Group Holdings awaits a court decision on a similar case two weeks later. Sino-Ocean, a state-backed developer, faces a court hearing in September.