(Bloomberg) -- Liquidation hearings against Shimao Group Holdings Ltd. and Times China Holdings Ltd. have been adjourned until Aug. 12 as the two troubled Chinese developers try to gain creditors’ support for their restructuring proposals.
A legal representative for Shimao’s winding-up petitioner asked for “an opportunity to properly consider the revised term sheet.” While Shimao and a creditor group sought a 10-week adjournment, the Hong Kong judge granted them less than two weeks.
“Definitely not 10 weeks. I will give you one or two weeks at most,” said Master Jack Wong in a Wednesday court session. The move adds urgency to Shimao’s efforts. Just last week the company announced some revised terms related to its debt plan and is still seeking broader creditor support.
Creditors have flocked to Hong Kong courts amid the financial turmoil in China’s property sector, trying to claw back money from a growing list of defaulters. Filing a wind-up petition is a way to help speed up the debt-restructuring process by forcing the defaulted company to come up with a repayment plan.
Times China said in June that it had reached an agreement in principle with a group of key creditors, leading to the adjournment of a winding-up hearing earlier this month. In Wednesday’s court session, both company and petitioner representatives asked for a delay until Aug. 12 and the judge agreed.
Shimao, whose landmark projects included five-star hotels in Shanghai, last week revised its debt proposal by adding cash interest payments and sweetened terms for convertible bonds. Some noteholders and certain banks within a co-coordination committee of the firm’s bank lenders have acceded to the creditor support agreement, Shimao said in an exchange filing.
Shimao first defaulted on offshore debt in July 2022, months after losing its investment-grade rating from S&P Global Ratings.
Its proposed restructuring plan received pushback from a major creditor group in March this year. The following month, China Construction Bank (Asia) Corp. filed a winding-up petition against the builder.
Times China defaulted on two dollar bonds in January 2023. A liquidation petition was filed against it in April this year by Hang Seng Bank Ltd. The builder started to communicate with its major creditors, including banks and bondholders, almost on a daily basis after receiving the petition, Bloomberg reported.
(updates with court decisions throughout)
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