Chinese builder Road King warns of default risk unless creditors extend debt

Chinese developer Road King Infrastructure (RKI) is warning investors that it may default if they do not accept its proposals to buy some bonds back at discounts and give the company more time to pay the rest of the debt.

The firm offered to purchase five offshore dollar bonds at a price of US$257.50 to US$515 per US$1,000 principal amount, but the maximum consideration would be US$60 million, according to its so-called tender offer and consent solicitation plan earlier this month. Other notes would be extended for 3.5 years from their original maturity dates.

“If the tender offers and the consent solicitations are not successfully consummated, RKI may default on its payment obligations,” according to a Thursday filing by the company, whose portfolio includes residential flats in mainland China and Hong Kong and expressway operations in Indonesia.

If its efforts aren’t successful, the company said it will consider other options, including ways to restructure all of offshore borrowings, a sign that the Chinese property sector is still grappling with the liquidity crisis despite Beijing’s policy support measures.

Most of its cash balance is held in China and will be used for the working capital needed for its onshore projects, such as construction costs, interest payments and project loan repayments, it said. “Only limited resources would be available” for sending money abroad for its tender offers and consent solicitations due in July 2024, it said.

Road King’s 6.7 per cent dollar bond due September traded at 52 cents on the dollar as of Thursday, according to Bloomberg-compiled data.