Embattled Chinese property developer Country Garden Holdings downplayed the possibility of a liquidation after it hired a financial advisory firm to assess the amount of money creditors could recover in such an event.
“Hiring an independent third party to perform a hypothetical liquidation analysis has no direct connection to an actual liquidation,” Country Garden said in a note to the Post on Wednesday. “The analysis is an important component of documents that need to be submitted to the court as a part of a debt restructuring process, and it is highly common in restructuring cases in recent years.”
The developer, based in Foshan in China’s southern Guangdong province, hired New York-based Kroll to perform a liquidation analysis, after Ever Credit, a wholly owned unit of Kingboard Holdings filed a winding-up petition against Country Garden in late February due to non-repayment of a term loan worth about US$204 million. A court hearing is scheduled for May 17.
“The liquidation analysis is intended to show creditors and the court that a restructuring is more beneficial to stakeholders,” Country Garden said, adding that a reliable, professional third party can help stakeholders assess the rate of recovery in the event of a liquidation, as well as help the developer make better decisions as it proceeds with its restructuring process.
Country Garden’s US$11 billion worth of offshore debt was deemed to be in default for the first time after it missed a key payment on a dollar bond last October, causing jitters in both the bond and stock markets due to the scale of the company’s operations.
Country Garden shares soar after sourcing cash to fund skyscraper completion
Country Garden shares soar after sourcing cash to fund skyscraper completion
In January, the developer appointed KPMG Advisory (China) as its principal financial advisory to help restructure its offshore debt.
Kroll has not responded to requests for comment.