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(Adds Moody's comment on China property sector, stock prices)
By Scott Murdoch and Samuel Shen
HONG KONG, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Chinese developer Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd is unlikely to win bondholders' approval to extend the maturity of a $400 million bond due next week, analysts say, heaping more pressure on other indebted peers.
Kaisa's proposal to delay the maturity of the bond by 18 months comes against the backdrop of growing creditor concerns about Chinese property developers' ability to meet their near-term offshore repayment obligations.
Some developers in late October called on regulators to extend their offshore bond maturities https://www.reuters.com/business/exclusive-china-developers-propose-offshore-debt-maturity-extension-2021-10-27 or undertake a debt restructuring, as a growing number of defaults hit the sector in a fallout from embattled China Evergrande Group.
Kaisa needs at least 95% of its bondholders to approve a proposal to exchange $400 million, 6.5% offshore bonds due Dec. 7 for new notes due June 6, 2023 at the same interest rate.
At least one group of Kaisa bondholders had rejected the offer, according to a letter sent this week by their financial advisor to the Kaisa board and a copy of which was seen by Reuters.
"The group believes that the terms of the exchange offer are unacceptable and illustrate an unwillingness on the part of the company to consider more appropriate and holistic ways to address Kaisa's current short term liquidity challenges," the letter said.
Kaisa, which has been trying to accelerate the disposal of real estate projects and other assets including its Hong Kong-listed property management unit to improve liquidity, did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The group of bondholders mentioned in the letter sent to Kaisa offered a 'forbearance period' to the company to delay the repayment to continue negotiations.
The bondholders, who say they own 50% of the debt Kaisa is trying to exchange, have offered $2 billion in fresh debt funding to the Chinese company to help it avert a default, two sources with knowledge of the offer told Reuters.
The exact details of the funding size or terms for the offer were not disclosed. The sources could not be named due to confidentiality constraints.
There had been little interaction between Kaisa and the group since the offer was presented to the Chinese developer, said the sources.
Hong Kong-listed shares of Kaisa ended nearly 1% higher on Thursday, while Evergrande rose more than 3%.
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