Evergrande shareholder Chinese Estates shelves plans to go private

[SHANGHAI] Chinese Estates Holdings, a major stakeholder in embattled developer China Evergrande, said on Friday its plans to go private had fallen through as its shareholders had rejected the proposal.

The company, which is the third-largest shareholder of Evergrande, received a proposal to be taken private from the British Virgin Islands-based company for US$245.30 million in early October.

Chinese Estates, however, said the proposal did not pass in a shareholder vote that took place earlier in the day.

The company also said it had made an application to resume trade on the Hong Kong stock exchange from Dec 20.

Chinese Estates owned about 4.7 per cent of Evergrande's equity capital as of Sept 27, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

The company has mandated a sale of all or part of the remaining Evergrande stake either on the market or through block trades.

Evergrande, which has more than US$300 billion in liabilities, missed a debt payment deadline last week, putting it at risk of becoming the country's biggest defaulter.

REUTERS