(Yicai Global) Nov. 22 -- Embattled Chinese developer Sunac China Holdings has put together a debt restructuring plan and is proposing to push back the maturity dates for its CNY15.4 billion (USD2.1 billion) of onshore debt by around four years, online news outlet The Paper reported today.

Sunac plans to extend the deadlines of those bonds that have already been rolled over by three years and nine months to September 2026 and for those loans that have yet to expire, by four and a half years to 2027, the report said.

Sunac will begin to pay off the principal every three months from 2025 at a steadily increasing rate, the Tianjin-based developer said. It will leverage credit through residential housing and tourism projects for it can no longer offer guarantees.

Creditors will vote on the plan in early December and the motion will be passed by majority vote, it added.

Sunac, which defaulted in May on interest payments of USD104 million due on four US dollar-denominated bonds, is the third Chinese developer to undergo debt restructuring after R&F Properties and Logan Group.

Creditors of R&F Properties agreed in September to push back repayments on CNY13.5 billion of onshore debt to over three years from four months, the Guangzhou-based developer said earlier.

Sunac’s stock was suspended from trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange on April 1, after the developer failed to submit its 2021 annual results on time. It has also not filed an interim report yet for 2022.

The recent Covid-19 outbreaks in many of the country’s economic hubs have dealt a cruel blow to the already cooling real estate sector. As of the end of June last year, Sunac had racked up CNY997.1 billion (USD143.3 billion) in debts and had a liability-to-assets ratio of 82.72 percent. In the first 10 months, the firm had contract sales of CNY153.1 billion (USD21.4 billion).

To add to its woes, the developer is defending itself against a liquidation petition filed by a creditor in Hong Kong in September. The High Court in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region said it will delay the hearing until June next year and that in the meantime trading of Sunac’s stock will remain suspended, it said on Nov. 16.

Editor: Kim Taylor