Asia Pacific

Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd.’s debt restructuring will probably succeed after gaining local support as both onshore and offshore creditors met over the weekend to align their interests, advisers said, Bloomberg reported. The Shenzhen-based developer is believed to be getting backing from a committee of onshore creditors, the local government and the China Banking Regulatory Commission, according to an e-mailed statement from Kirkland & Ellis and Moelis & Co., who are advising some offshore bondholders. There’s “high likelihood” that the onshore restructuring can succeed, they said.

The government has argued that the recommendations made by the Productivy Commission to change insolvency laws will foster more entrepreneurship and aid innovation, SkyNews.com.au reported. The default bankruptcy period will be reduced from three years to one while a safe harbour will protect directors from personal liability for insolvent trading if they appoint a professional restructuring adviser to develop a plan to turnaround a company in financial difficulty.

Japan avoided falling into the second recession of the Abenomics era over the summer, as stronger-than-expected capital spending helped the economy grow in the third quarter, revised figures show, The Wall Street Journal reported. Japan’s gross domestic product, the broadest measure of a nation’s economic activity, grew 1.0% in the third quarter from the prior three-month period on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, the Cabinet Office said Tuesday. Previously it had estimated that the economy shrank 0.8% on that basis in the third quarter.

Korea Asset Management Corp (KAMCO) anticipates it will continue to buy up plenty of ships from locally distressed lines next year, Splash24/7 reported. As of the end of October, the state-run debt restructuring company had purchased 35 vessels from shipping firms, including Hanjin Shipping and Hyundai Merchant Marine, for KRW505.5bn ($434m) since the 2008 financial crisis. KAMCO anticipates at least KRW100bn in ships outlay next year – all of which will be chartered back. Korean shipping lines have been among the hardest hit in the downturn.

An IT distribution company that has operated for almost 20 years has collapsed into voluntary administration, SmartCompany.com.au reported. Altech Computers was established in 1997 and has offices and warehouses in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Auckland and Hong Kong. The business featured in BRW’s Fast 100 for several years between 2004 and 2006, coming in at number 100 in 2005 with turnover of more than $63 million for the 2004-05 financial year. Altech Computers was also named Microsoft’s Australian distribution partner of the year in 2008.

Korean Company Sambo Motors Co. Ltd has taken control of German tuning company Carlsson, GTSpirit.com reported. The Korean company has promised further investment for the Saarland Merzig company and has sought to reassure Carlsson’s employees that their jobs are secure. Sambo was one of four bidders to made a binding offer during the insolvency process. Carlsson entered into liquidation in April this year following a poor year of sales.

Canberra building subcontractors left tens of millions of dollars out of pocket by insolvencies and payment disputes are hoping and praying a Senate Committee will come to their rescue, The Canberra Times reported. The report of the Senate's Economics References Committee inquiry into insolvency in the construction industry is due to be tabled on Thursday afternoon. Wayne Richards said his Queanbeyan based Erincole Building Services lost more than $1 million in a dispute with the John Holland Group, the lead contractor on the National Portrait Gallery.

China Shanshui Cement warned investors it will default on more than $300 million of onshore debt payments due on Thursday and will seek to appoint liquidators, a sign Chinese authorities are more willing to let weak firms fail, Reuters reported. The privately controlled company, with a market capitalisation of $2.7 billion, has felt the squeeze from falling demand in a sector struggling with overcapacity as the giant economy shifts gears. It reported a 31 percent decline in revenues and a net loss for the first half of the year.

As China's economy slows and Beijing becomes more relaxed about letting its companies fail, a rising number of foreign bondholders risk being caught up in the country's unpredictable court system, Reuters reported. Last month, solar producer Baoding Tianwei Group became China's first ever state-owned company to default on a bond coupon payment, showing Beijing's increasing willingness to let companies go bust in a bid to reform its corporate market. Also in April, Kaisa Group became the first Chinese property developer to fail to pay a coupon on its U.S.

Published data would suggest Indonesian banks are holding up well, in spite of the commodity downturn, a lack of diversification in the economy and protracted currency weakness. But there is good reason to believe such data do not tell the full story. While the true extent of stress is hard to gauge, it is unlikely that medium-sized banks, in particular, will be able to maintain healthy profits for long, according to FT Confidential Research, an FT investment research service.