China Evergrande shares jump after it names state firm official to board By Reuters

HONG KONG (Reuters) -Shares of China Evergrande Group jumped more than 13% on Monday, a day after the embattled developer said it would appoint an official from a unit of state asset manager China Cinda Asset Management to its board.

Evergrande’s assets are expected to be taken over by state-owned firms in a restructuring led by the Guangdong provincial government, where the developer is based, and the appointment could signal the restructuring is moving forward.

Shares of the developer also drew support from a Friday report by Financial intelligence provider REDD that said the provincial government was aiming to release a framework debt restructuring plan for Evergrande by March.

It plans to separate the company’s offshore assets and sell them to pay off foreign debt, in a boost to foreign lenders’ hopes of recouping some funds, the report added.

Evergrande is the world’s most-indebted property company with more than $300 billion in liabilities, including nearly $20 billion of international bonds all deemed to be in default after a run of missed payments late last year.

The developer said on Sunday it would appoint two new board members, including non-executive director Liang Senlin, chairman of China Cinda (HK) Holdings Company Limited, a unit of one of the country’s four biggest state asset managers.

Evergrande set up a risk management committee last month mostly comprising senior officials from state entities including China Cinda Asset Management.

The other new director is Siu Shawn, chairman of China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group Limited . The company said in October it would prioritise the growth of its nascent EV business over its troubled core real estate operations.