October 5, 2021: -Indebted developer Evergrande is set to sell part of its stake in its property services unit, the second asset sale in the coming weeks as the liquidity-squeezed property giant scrambles to raise cash.
On Monday, Trading in shares of Evergrande and Evergrande Property Services was halted. In a Hong Kong exchange filing, Evergrande said it requested the trading halt ahead of an announcement about a “major transaction.”
Evergrande Property Services said that the announcement constitutes “a possible general offer for the shares of the Company.”
Chinese developer Hopson suspended trading of its shares, which cited an impending announcement of a “major transaction” to acquire a Hong Kong-listed company’s shares without specifying. Chinese state media Global Times reported, citing anonymous media reports, that Evergrande sells about 51% of its property services arm to Hopson for over $5 billion.
Last week, Evergrande said it would sell a $1.5 billion stake in Shengjing Bank to a state-owned asset management firm.
Evergrande’s debt has stoked investor concern as it warned it could default, roiling markets. The property giant has missed interest payments on two offshore bonds in recent weeks, leaving overseas investors in limbo. So far, the firm has remained silent on those payments.
Buckling under the weight of over $300 billion in debt, Evergrande is trying to offload stakes in other assets.
It sold property units to suppliers and contractors to offset the outstanding payments. As of August 27, those exceptional debts amounted to around 25.17 billion yuan, according to Evergrande’s latest financial statement.
Vishnu Varathan, head of economics and strategy at Mizuho Bank, said that “targeted and partial asset disposal to meet obligations is a low bar.”
“The real question is whether there will be sustainable financing/cash-flow arrangements to keep the property sector as a going concern,” he told CNBC, referring to functioning businesses generating cash-flows rather than being squeezed by liquidation.
