(Bloomberg) — Creditors of Chinese developer Xinyuan Real Estate Co Ltd. are seeking to force the company into bankruptcy protection in New York in order to collect on bonds that were due last year, according to a court filing.
The bondholders — Cithara Global Multi-Strategy, Mars Partner Limited and Star Freight & Trading Co. — are owed $65.8 million, the creditors said in an involuntary Chapter 11 petition filed Monday evening.
Xinyuan is among the many Chinese developers rocked by financial turmoil in recent years. In 2022 the company missed an interest payment and later failed to pay off $170 million in bonds that came due in January, 2024, according to the bankruptcy filing. It did a dollar debt exchange in June 2023 and hired Alvarez and Marsal as its restructuring adviser.
The company has assets in the US that could be used to help repay the bonds, creditors said in their filings. Last year, Xinyuan put a real estate subsidiary named Hudson 888 Owner into bankruptcy, saying it owed creditors between $100 million and $500 million.
Under the US Bankruptcy Code, creditors can ask a judge to put a company under court supervision should the firm fail to pay its debts on time. The company can then either fight the petition, or accept the bankruptcy and attempt to restructure.
A representative of the company did not immediately return an email seeking comment.
The bankruptcy case is Xinyuan Real Estate Co. Ltd, 25-10745, US Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York.
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