SHANGHAI—Tianjin-based Sunac China Holdings Ltd. is among the property developers looking into buying a stake in cash-strapped Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd., people familiar with the talks said Monday.
It isn’t clear whether Sunac China Holdings is the front-runner in the talks. Others familiar with the discussions said last week that developers, such China Vanke Co. and Shenzhen Overseas Chinese Town Co. , are also in discussions with Kaisa.
Although asset sales are also possible, the discussions are more focused on Sunac taking an equity stake in Kaisa, one of the people said. A person in Sunac’s marketing department, which handles media inquiries, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. A person at Kaisa’s investor-relations department declined to comment.
Local authorities in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen blocked the developer from selling projects late last year. The authorities didn’t publicly give a reason. A number of top Kaisa executives later resigned. The Shenzhen-based company subsequently defaulted on a bond’s interest payment, prompting other creditors to demand repayment and freeze some of the company’s bank accounts.
The people familiar with the talks said officials from the Shenzhen government are involved in the negotiations.
No property developer would enter an agreement to take over Kaisa’s holdings without the government’s support, since the government blocked Kaisa’s sales in the first place, one of the people said.
Over the weekend, hundreds of homeowners that have bought uncompleted homes from Kaisa protested in Shenzhen, demanding assurances that their homes would be completed and handed over on time.
“It is not just a commercial transaction now. It also concerns social stability,” the person said.