By Xie Yu
HONG KONG (Reuters) -A Hong Kong court on Monday adjourned a hearing on a petition seeking the liquidation of Kaisa Group until June 24, giving the embattled Chinese developer some respite as it works on its debt restructuring plan.
Kaisa shares surged nearly 6% in early Hong Kong trade on the news.
The Shenzhen-based developer has been working on an offshore debt restructuring for two years after defaulting on $12 billion in offshore debt in late 2021.
The matter before the court concerns the non-payment of 2023 notes with an outstanding principal of $750 million and Citicorp International, the trustee of a major group of bondholders, has been acting as petitioner since March after a former petitioner withdrew.
The reason for the adjournment was not disclosed. A spokesperson for Kaisa said they were discussing specific terms of the restructuring plan with the bondholder group.
Kaisa is China’s second-largest issuer of offshore debt among property developers after China Evergrande (HK:) Group and was the first Chinese property developer to default on its dollar bonds in 2015.
China Evergrande was ordered to liquidate by a Hong Kong court earlier this year and a growing list of companies in the sector, including Country Garden, are fighting against liquidation petitions filed by creditors.
