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Chinese billionaire Zhang Jindong has received a $1.36 billion state-backed bailout of the troubled retail arm of his Suning empire, marking another step in Beijing’s efforts to clean up its heavily indebted conglomerates, Bloomberg News reported. A group of investors, led by the Nanjing state asset management committee and the Jiangsu provincial government, will take a 16.96% stake in Suning.com Co., according to a statement Monday. The deal was struck at 5.59 yuan a share, the near eight-year low the stock was trading at before it was halted June 16.
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China’s corporate credit market is the world’s biggest, after the U.S. The government has backstopped even the most reckless companies, fending off defaults where they were arguably long overdue. But those days are now drawing to a close as Beijing forces more accountability on its weakest companies to reduce moral hazard, according to a Bloomberg News commentary. In China, the current default rate is around 1%; in more developed markets, it’s closer to 2% to 3%. Removing government support in order to close that gap is a delicate process.
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Sri Lanka’s risk premium for a default jumped, reflecting concern that the pandemic is damaging the nation’s ability to fill its foreign-exchange coffers ahead of at least $2.5 billion in dollar debt due in the next 12 months, Bloomberg News reported. The nation’s five-year credit default swaps rose to 1,553 basis points on Monday, the highest since March 1. A separate gauge of one-year default probability was at 27.9%, the steepest in Asia, up from around 13% over six months ago, according to a Bloomberg model where a reading above 1.5% signifies high risk of failure to pay.
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New rules proposed by the European Commission could introduce a cap on interest rates for consumers and restrict the cost of credit charged by moneylenders, the Irish Times reported. The move comes days after Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe said the Government was planning to “gradually” lower the current interest rate cap on licensed moneylenders’ loans.
OPEC+ ministers called off oil output talks on Monday after clashing last week when the United Arab Emirates rejected a proposed eight-month extension to output curbs, meaning no deal to boost production has been agreed, Reuters reported. Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman had called for "compromise and rationality" to secure a deal after two days of failed discussions last week. But four OPEC+ sources said there had been no progress.
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U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said England was on track to lift almost all Covid-19 restrictions as planned on July 19, even as the highly transmissible Delta variant of coronavirus drives a new surge in infections, the Wall Street Journal reported. The move puts the U.K. in the vanguard of countries betting that vaccines will provide a durable route back to normalcy, despite the circulation of dangerous new variants. Mr.
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A co-founder of the collapsed Bula mine in County Meath has lost a Supreme Court appeal aimed at permitting him to challenge a decision adjudicating him bankrupt over non-payment of a €4.8 million legal costs debt, the Irish Times reported. The High Court granted a petition in March 2018 adjudicating Michael Wymes and another co-founder of Bula, Richard Wood, bankrupt. The two, with Tom Roche senior, established Bula in 1971 to buy a zinc and lead mine near Navan, but it collapsed with substantial debts some years later.
The part owner of Chilean bank Itau Corpbanca on Thursday secured court approval in Delaware to fend off any potential creditor attempts to collect debts owed as it works to restructure in the U.S., Reuters reported. Corp Group Banking SA (CGB), represented by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, filed for chapter 11 protection on June 25 to restructure nearly $2 billion in debt. That figure includes $500 million in bonds issued under New York law on which the company has defaulted. CGB, which is controlled by Chilean billionaire Alvaro Saieh, holds 26.2% of the bank’s common equity.
The Dambovita county court has launched bankruptcy proceedings against Romanian special steel mill Cos Targoviste, formerly known as Mechel Targoviste, SeeNews reported. The court rejected the reorganisation plan submitted by Alpha Financial, one of the steel mill's creditors, a statement filed on Wednesday by Cos Targovishte with the Bucharest Stock Exchange, BVB, showed. Cos Targoviste said that it will appeal the court decision. As a result of the start of bankruptcy proceedings, the company's shares were suspended from trading on the main segment of the BVB on Thursday.
Petroleo Brasileiro SA raised about $2.3 billion through the sale of its remaining stake in Brazil’s largest fuel distributor in the biggest equity transaction in Latin America this year, Bloomberg reported. Petrobras, as the company is known, fully exited Petrobras Distribuidora SA in an offering that priced at 26 reais ($5.23) a piece, according to company filings. The sale is part of a broader plan from the oil giant to exit non-core businesses, cut debt and focus on deep-water projects. The downsizing is also part of the government’s strategy to divest state-run assets.