Beijing has urged Evergrande’s billionaire chairman Hui Ka Yan to use his personal wealth to allay Evergrande’s deepening debt crisis, as per sources. The push from Beijing came after Evergrande missed its dollar bond coupon on September 23. Hui Ka Yan’s net worth has tumbled to ~$7.8bn from $42bn at its peak in 2017, when he was among the top richest men in Asia. Much of his net worth has been derived from his controlling stake in Evergrande whose shares have collapsed from HKD 30/share in 2017 to HKD 2.6/share currently. Bloomberg notes that it is unclear whether the chairman’s fortune is big and liquid enough to make a sizeable contribution to Evergrande’s liabilities that top $300bn. Evergrande has over $7.4bn in onshore and offshore bonds due in 2022. The sources also said that local governments are monitoring Evergrande’s bank accounts to ensure company cash is used to complete unfinished housing projects and not being used to pay creditors.
Evergrande’s dollar bonds were stable with its 8.75% 2025s at 22.5 cents on the dollar.
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