HONG KONG- Grandjoy a Chinese developer gets $1.6 billion facility to fund M&A

State-owned Chinese developer Grandjoy Holdings Group Co. Ltd. said that it has signed a 10 billion yuan ($1.57 billion) financing facility with China Merchants Bank to fund acquisitions in the country’s real estate sector.

More assets are expected to be acquired by the State-owned property firms from cash-strapped private developers, as Beijing steps up efforts to stabilize and tighten control over a crisis-hit sector that accounts for a quarter of its economy.

Grandjoy said on its official account” on WeChat late on Monday the facility would support its acquisitions and come in the form of loans, funds, securitisation and other financing products.”

The firm said, “As a state-owned enterprise, Grandjoy firmly implements the policy to ‘support a housing market that better meets buyers’ rational needs and enhances the healthy development and virtuous cycle of the real estate market”

The government has taken various measures in last 2 months to restore stability in the sector as developers confront defaults on offshore debt obligations, credit rating downgrades and a selloff in their bonds and stocks.

Those measures included urging banks to provide appropriate lending to developers, simplifying the process for issuance of interbank notes and asset-backed securities, and not including M&A-related loans in the debt ratio caps for state-owned enterprises.