Evergrande investors perplexed by seized cash of $2.1 Billion

Unfinished apartment buildings at the construction site of a China Evergrande Group development in Beijing, China, on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2021. (Photo: Bloomberg)

China Evergrande Group investors remain in the dark about how $2.1 billion in deposits at its property-services unit were used as collateral for pledge guarantees and confiscated by banks.

According to persons who attended and requested anonymity, the developer's representatives echoed comments from prior filings that they were examining the situation without providing details. The third-party pledge guarantee depletes the cash assets of Evergrande Property Services Group Ltd.

"It's peculiar because investors expect Evergrande management to be aware of where the money went, rather than establishing an investigation committee to determine where it went," Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Andrew Chan said.

While the 13.4 billion yuan ($2.1 billion) in seized cash is insignificant in the overall restructuring, it casts doubt on the services unit's financial records "if the group intends to sell it at a good price to maximize creditors' recovery," Chan added.

Evergrande representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the call.

Creditors of Evergrande are keeping a close eye on the struggling developer as it embarks on one of China's largest and most complex debt restructurings. Concerns about transparency have resurfaced regularly as Chinese developers grapple with a financing crunch that has rocked the sector as Beijing cracks down on excessive borrowing.

Publish : 2022-03-23 11:46:00

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