Creditors of Chinese developer Xinyuan Real Estate have petitioned a New York, US, court to place the company into bankruptcy protection, in an effort to recover unpaid bonds that came due in 2023, reported Bloomberg.
In an involuntary Chapter 11 petition filed yesterday (15 April), the creditors said that bondholders Cithara Global Multi-Strategy, Mars Partner, and Star Freight & Trading are collectively owed $65.8m by the real-estate company.
Xinyuan, similar to several other Chinese developers, has been struggling due to the financial turmoil.
The company missed an interest payment in 2022 and subsequently defaulted on $170m in bonds due in January 2024, as per the creditors’ filing.
It had previously undertaken a dollar debt exchange in June 2023 and appointed Alvarez and Marsal, a professional services company, as its restructuring adviser.
According to the creditors’ filings, Xinyuan holds assets in the US, which could potentially be liquidated to repay the outstanding bonds.
In 2024, Xinyuan filed for bankruptcy for its subsidiary, Hudson 888 Owner, as it reportedly owed creditors $100m to $500m.
Under US bankruptcy law, creditors may request court supervision for a company that fails to meet its debt obligations.
The company then has the option to contest the petition or accept the bankruptcy proceedings and seek to restructure its finances.
Xinyuan has not responded to an email seeking comment, reported the media outlet.
The bankruptcy case has been filed in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
In July 2023, two creditors of Guangzhou R&F Properties, another Chinese property developer, sued the company, seeking its bankruptcy restructuring, reported Reuters, which cited notices in a database of the National Enterprise Bankruptcy Information Disclosure Platform in China.
