China Evergrande shares tumble after failure of sale talks

Developer running out of options as default deadline looms on Saturday

A display shows China Evergrande development projects around the country: Work on hundreds of these has been halted as the company falls behind on payments to suppliers and contractors. © AP

NARAYANAN SOMASUNDARAM, Nikkei Asia regional finance editor

October 21, 2021 12:11 JST

Updated on October 21, 2021 17:40 JST

HONG KONG -- Shares of China Evergrande Group slumped as much as 14.2% as they resumed trading in Hong Kong on Thursday after a three-week halt as the debt-strapped developer sought unsuccessfully to sell a controlling stake in its property management business.

The collapse of talks to sell the 50.1% stake in Evergrande Property Services to Hopson Development Holdings for 20.04 billion Hong Kong dollars ($2.58 billion), revealed in an exchange filing late Wednesday evening, ratchets up the odds that Evergrande will default on an offshore bond later this week.