Evergrande to sell stake in Shengjing Bank for $ 1.5 billion

HONG KONG (Reuters) – China Evergrande Group on Wednesday said it plans to sell a $ 1.5 billion stake in Shengjing Bank to a state-owned asset management company, as the property developer moves to rally funds to repay debts.

After failing to meet a deadline last week to pay the interest on a bond loan, Evergrande finds itself confronted this Wednesday with another deadline for the payment of a coupon of 47.5 million dollars, under the watchful eye of investors.

Shengjing Bank has demanded that the profits from the operation collected by Evergrande be used by the latter to repay its debts with the bank, the Chinese real estate group said, suggesting that these funds could not be used to pay the interest on the loan. .

In a document filed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Evergrande said it would sell 1.75 billion Shengjing Bank shares – or 19.93% of the bank’s capital – at a unit price of 5.70 yuan (0 , $ 88) to the public asset management company Shenyang Shengjing Finance Investment Group.

This operation will bring Shenyang Shengjing’s stake in Shengjing Bank to 20.79%, while Evergrande’s will be 14.75% against 34.5%.

(Report Donny Kwok and Anne Marie Roantree; French version Jean Terzian)