(Bloomberg) -- China Vanke Co., the Chinese state-backed developer that’s become the latest flashpoint in the nation’s property crisis, is preparing an asset package totaling about 130 billion yuan ($18 billion) to use as collateral as it seeks new bank loans, people familiar with the matter said.

A company executive told analysts about the plan at an investor event on Sunday, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. Separately, some of Vanke’s regional units are setting up teams for potential asset sales, one person familiar with the matter said.

The company mentioned the investor event in an exchange filing, but didn’t disclose details of the asset package or any potential sales. Vanke didn’t immediately reply to requests for comment.

Vanke is seeking to assuage concern about its ability to stave off default after a market selloff last week added to alarm. It said in its filing Sunday that Chairman Yu Liang and President Zhu Jiusheng told the meeting with brokerages including Citigroup Inc., UBS Group AG, Morgan Stanley and China International Capital Corp. that it’s making plans to resolve liquidity pressure and short-term operational difficulties. 

Its shares climbed as much as 2.8% in Shenzhen before closing up 0.6% on Monday. Its dollar notes due in June gained 1 cent to 92.4 cents, while others due in 2027 notched their biggest rise in more than two weeks to 39.3 cents, after hitting a record low on Friday. 

The analysts received last-minute invitations to the event on Saturday night, about 15 hours before it was set to start, the people added. The builder released the filing to the Shenzhen exchange shortly after the meeting, before some analysts had even returned home, the people said.

In March, Bloomberg reported that Vanke has been in talks with banks over a plan to swap bond holdings worth tens of billions of yuan in principal into secured debt. The swap would help Vanke avoid a public default while giving banks collateral to protect against any potential losses.

Vanke has also faced market rumors and controversies recently involving a local partner. In Sunday’s meeting, executives denied speculation that the government banned managers above the group vice-president level from traveling overseas after a chief partner in Central China went AWOL, according to the exchange filing.

Aside from the discussion on bank loans, Vanke also told analysts that it would consider selling or pledging non-core assets for funds as long as terms are appropriate, the people said, citing the management. However, Vanke said it wouldn’t sell a controlling stake in its core businesses Onewo Inc., its property management unit, and its long-term rental properties, according to the people.

Vanke faces a maturity wall in 2025, when 36.2 billion yuan ($5 billion) of onshore and offshore bonds come due, according to S&P Global. As of end-2023, the company had accessible cash of 36.3 billion yuan, S&P estimated.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered its recommendation on the shares to underweight in early April, saying Vanke faces a “challenging” period of deleveraging and relying on the support of banks and state-owned enterprises.

(Updates with additional information throughout)

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