Evergrande offshore bondholders surprised by debt restructuring regulatory hurdles

By Scott Murdoch and Clare Jim

SYDNEY (Reuters) - China Evergrande Group's offshore bondholder group said on Monday it was surprised by the property developer's recent announcement that its offshore debt restructuring plan failed to meet regulatory requirements.

In a statement, the ad hoc bondholder group said it had not been given any documents or filings from Evergrande despite repeated requests.

Evergrande did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

Evergrande announced in late September that Chinese regulators said it would be unable to issue new debt due to an investigation into its main unit, throwing its offshore debt restructure plans into disarray.

The ad hoc group said it was urging the Chinese property developer, the mostly heavily indebted in the world, to seek a resolution from regulators to allow the restructuring to proceed.

"This is the only way the cloud of uncertainty surrounding the regulatory issues can be resolved," the statement said.

"Until then, the base case is that China Evergrande Group will be liquidated at the next winding up hearing on October 30, 2023."

A Hong Kong court is due to hear a winding up petition against Evergrande on that day.

(Reporting by Scott Murdoch in Sydney and Clare Jim in Hong Kong; Editing by Kim Coghill and Lincoln Feast.)