A Singapore hedge fund has filed a petition in Hong Kong to wind up defaulted developer Kaisa, marking one of the first cases dealing with a Chinese developer’s mainland debt following a property sector meltdown in the country.
The court filing by hedge fund Broad Peak Investment Advisers in Hong Kong comes during a liquidity crunch for Chinese property developers. The sector’s collapse has dragged on China’s economy, which is teetering on the brink of deflation.
A number of Hong Kong-listed Chinese developers including Evergrande, the world’s most indebted property developer, are battling winding-up petitions in Hong Kong. But while most other petitions involve offshore dollar-denominated debt, Broad Peak’s petition concerns the non-payment of Rmb170mn ($24mn) in onshore bonds.