Embattled property developer China Vanke is seeking to further extend the grace period for a 2 billion yuan (HK$2.24 billion) bond repayment by 90 trading days as it works to renegotiate a debt rollover plan with holders, sources said on Tuesday.
The bond CN102282715= in question matured on December 15 and its current grace period, approved by bondholders, was extended to 30 trading days from five and ends on January 27. The proposed new grace period would end on April 29.
The state-backed property developer is also again seeking to defer the repayment of the bond by one year, sweetening the proposal to add receivables from certain projects as credit enhancement.
The people declined to be named as the matter is private. Vanke did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bondholders will vote on the proposals on January 21-26. They have previously rejected twice Vanke's proposals to defer repayment by one year.
Vanks is also holding meetings over the coming two weeks for two other yuan bonds - a 1.1 billion yuan bond with put date on January 22 and a 3.7 billion yuan bond that matured on December 28 - to seek extensions.
The Shenzhen-based company surprised the market in November by seeking a public bond extension, despite getting a loan infusion worth 22 billion yuan from major shareholder Shenzhen Metro, a company owned by the Shenzhen government, last year.
Vanke will likely mirror the strategies of some other cash-strapped Chinese developers and seek multiple short-term extensions for its bond repayments before ultimately proposing a debt restructuring, credit analysts have said.
Reuters
