Kaisa to restructure offshore bonds

Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd has pressed ahead with a plan to restructure its offshore bonds by offering incentives to creditors almost two months after rejecting a rival proposal from a US hedge fund.

The developer will pay bondholders and lenders a consent fee equivalent to 1 percent of holdings if they support the plan by Jan 24, according to a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The incentive drops to 0.5 percent for signup between Jan 25 and Feb 7.

The agreement will deter creditors from selling their holdings and prevent them taking enforcement actions as co-founder and Chairman Kwok Ying-shing seeks to convert $2.45 billion of Kaisa's local and foreign-currency bonds into new dollar-denominated debt.

China's slowing economic growth is under scrutiny as local companies reorganize debt following a year in which Shenzhen-based Kaisa became the first developer to default in the dollar bond market.

Commodity and steel producers including Hidili Industry International Development Ltd have also reneged on bond and loan repayments while a stock plunge in the opening week of 2016 added to market volatility.

"This does make a mockery of priority of claims because there is no dilution in Kwok's stake in the company and debt holders are taking a haircut," said Alex Turnbull, chief investment officer of Keshik Capital Pte in Singapore, which owns Kaisa notes.

He said while the restructuring is likely to succeed, "it's not fair to the offshore creditors at all".

"As a large global creditor, China should think twice about aiding and abetting these kinds of deals."

Kaisa's $800 million of 8.875 percent notes due March 2018 fell 0.26 cent to 69.11 cents on the dollar as of 11:04 am in Hong Kong, according to Bloomberg-compiled prices.