Evergrande Deal Misses Target After Founder Cut Out Friends
- Company insisted on share placement without tycoon backers
- Strategic investor leans to demanding repayment in January
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China Evergrande Group broke with precedent this week by excluding friends of billionaire founder Hui Ka Yan from a closely watched share sale, a strategy that was designed to bolster investor confidence in the embattled developer but may have instead had the opposite effect.
Evergrande left Hui’s frequent associates out of the deal as it sought to raise as much as $1.09 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. The company wanted to prove it could access long-term funding without relying on other Chinese property tycoons, one of the people said.