China’s Kaisa seeks to extend maturity on $400 million offshore bond,

By Clare Jim and Sameer Manekar

HONG KONG (Reuters) -Chinese property developer Kaisa Group said on Thursday it wants to extend the maturity of a $400 million bond by a year and a half – part of its efforts to avoid a messy default and resolve a liquidity crisis.

If at least 95% of the holders of the offshore bond accept its offer, it will exchange the 6.5% notes due Dec. 7 for new notes due June 6, 2023 at the same interest rate, it said in a company filing.

Kaisa, which has the most offshore debt of any Chinese developer after China Evergrande Group, has missed coupon payments totalling over $59 million due on Nov. 11 and 12. The payments have a 30-day grace period.

Shares in Kaisa, which resumed trading for the first time since being suspended on Nov. 5, were up 13% in early trade with investors cheered by the attempt to solve its payment problems.

Chinese developers are facing an unprecedented liquidity squeeze due to regulatory curbs on borrowings, causing a string of offshore debt defaults, credit rating downgrades and sell-offs in some developers’ shares and bonds in recent months.

Kaisa has been scrambling to raise capital by divesting some of its assets including its Hong Kong-listed property management unit.

The developer also said in a separate filing late on Wednesday it is looking at speeding up the disposal of real estate projects and other high-quality assets to improve its liquidity.

($1 = 6.3884 )