Seazen Targets July China Bond Insurance-Guaranteed Bond Issue for Timely Part Refi of $300M Notes Due July 13; Considers New USD Bond Issue to Refi $300M Notes Due Oct. 15

Chinese developer Seazen Group told investors on Tuesday and Wednesday that it now targets to issue up to CNY 2 billion ($278 million) China Bond Insurance Co. Ltd.-guaranteed onshore notes in July before its $300 million 4.45% notes mature on July 13 to partially refinance the dollar notes, two sources said citing company management.

Speaking to investors in a nondeal roadshow in Hong Kong this week, Seazen management also said the remainder of the due July notes will be repaid with proceeds from onshore loans backed by its Wuyue Plaza shopping malls, said the sources who attended the NDR.

Octus reported on May 9 that Seazen’s Shanghai-listed unit Seazen Holdings had been aiming for a June or July issue of CNY 1.5 billion to CNY 2 billion ($277.7 million) China Bond Insurance guaranteed bonds to part refinance the $300 million, 4.625% notes due Oct. 15.

The company’s management said this week that it is considering a new USD bond issue as a refinancing option for the due Oct. 15 notes, according to the sources who said the company did not specify at the NDR the new issue size or a yield that would induce it to issue new notes.

Octus reported on March 18 that Citi had proposed an 11% yield in March when it approached investors for a possible dollar bond from Seazen with a concurrent tender offer for the outstanding notes due 2025 and 2026.

If Seazen were to proceed with the dollar bond, it will be the company’s first public dollar bond since the May 2022 issue of $100 million 7.95% due 2023 notes.

The other option for refinancing the due Oct. 15 notes is onshore financings backed by Wuyue Plaza malls, management said at the NDR.

The company opened 15 new Wuyue Plazas in 2024 and had a total of 173 Wuyue Plazas in operations as of the end of 2024, company management said in a text-based earnings Q&A session on March 31.

At the NDR, management said the company plans to raise around CNY 9 billion financings this year backed by unencumbered Wuyue Plazas with a total value of about CNY 19 billion, at a targeted loan-to-value ratio, or LTV, of 50%, said the same sources citing the company.

Management said the average LTV on its existing Wuyue Plaza-backed operating property loans from 2023 and earlier was around 38%. Seazen is also aiming to raise around CNY 7 billion financings from upsizing the existing loans by negotiating a higher LTV with bank lenders, sources said citing management.

The company said it had raised about CNY 1.7 billion total operating property loans backed by Wuyue Plazas during the first quarter of 2025, said the sources.

Meanwhile, the company is exploring possibilities for issuing onshore real estate investment trusts, or REITs, also backed by Wuyue Plazas, both publicly and privately, said sources citing the company.

Seazen’s $300 million 4.45% due July 13 notes were indicated about 99/ 100 today, May 22, its $300 million 4.625% due Oct. 15 notes were indicated about 97.75/ 98.75, and its $404 million 4.5% due May 2026 notes were indicated about 94.25/ 95.25, according to two buyside sources.

The NDR, joined by Seazen chairman Wang Xiaosong, continues in Singapore today and tomorrow, sources said.

Seazen did not respond to requests for comment.