Troubled Chinese real estate giant Evergrande sold its entire stake in film and television streaming company HengTen for $273 million (£200 million). The move comes as the world’s best indebted entrepreneur struggles to pay interest on his loans.
In a further sign of the crisis in the real estate market in China. Another big company is said to be raising new funds. Country Garden Services was suspended Thursday because it looked like the new stock would sell for $1 billion. Evergrande, saddled with about $300 billion in debt, said it would record a loss of more than $1 billion on the sale of its remaining 18 percent stake in HengTen.
Last week Evergrande sell a 5.7% stake in HengTen and raised about $145 million. The deal was declare just a day before the deadline for interest to mature at $148 million. Evergrande has so far avoided late payments by making late payments just before the 30-day grace period expires. Earlier this year, Evergrande held a controlling stake in HengTen, dubbed Netflix China. But sold the stake to raise money to meet its financial obligations.
Another major shareholder in HengTen is Chinese tech giant Tencent. Which acquired a 7 percent stake in Evergrande in July for an estimated $266 million. Evergrande shares were down about 2.5% on Thursday, while HengTen was up more than 23%.
Selling shares
Meanwhile, Hong Kong-based Country Garden Services will reportedly sell 150 million new shares at a discount of nearly 10% from their last trading price. Country Garden shares fell 4.2% on Wednesday.