(Updates with background in paragraphs 6, 9 and 10) Oct 13 (Reuters) – Embattled Chinese property developer Country Garden said on Monday its controlling shareholder had agreed to convert $1.14 billion in loans to equity as part of its offshore debt restructuring. Concrete Win Limited, an entity controlled by Country Garden's controlling shareholder, has committed to buying new shares to settle $1.14 billion in shareholder loans once the restructuring takes effect, the company said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange. The shares will be issued at HK$0.60 each, a marginal premium to Monday's closing price of HK$0.59. Country Garden has scheduled creditor meetings for November 5 to vote on its restructuring plan, with separate votes for holders of the 2023 and 2026 convertible bonds on the same day. A court hearing related to the liquidation petition is set for January 2026. Country Garden reached a deal in mid-August with a core group of bank creditors holding nearly half of its offshore debt, marking progress in its $14.1 billion restructuring plan. Earlier in the day, the company said it logged contracted sales attributable of 2.58 billion yuan ($361.75 million) in September, a 29% decrease from the previous year. Once China's largest developer, Country Garden defaulted on billions in offshore bonds in late 2023, joining a sector-wide crisis that has seen high-profile failures, including China Evergrande Group. A Hong Kong court ordered Evergrande to liquidate in 2024 and it was delisted from its stock exchange in August – one of the largest removals by market value and volume in recent years, marking the end of a dramatic boom-and-bust saga for investors. Media reports last month said peer China Vanke was in talks with major domestic creditors to lower borrowing costs on billions of yuan in private debt. (Reporting by Roushni Nair and Roshan Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Vijay Kishore)
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