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Chinese property giant Evergrande and its biggest foreign creditors are negotiating an 11th-hour deal to prevent a liquidation of the company’s offshore businesses on Monday, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Evergrande and a group of its bondholders have been negotiating to restructure the financially troubled company after Chinese regulators vetoed a previous version of their plan. In a recent proposal, Evergrande has offered to give control of around 20% of its Guangdong-based parent company, China Evergrande Group, to its creditors. To comply with Chinese regulators’ demands, Evergrande wouldn’t issue new debt as part of the restructuring. Additionally, Evergrande is in discussions with NWTN, a Dubai-based electric-vehicle company, to invest new money in Evergrande’s EV unit, the people said. NWTN had agreed to invest $500 million for a 28% stake in Evergrande Auto, which would have helped Evergrande Auto’s expansion, but NWTN temporarily suspended its commitment to invest the funds when Evergrande’s earlier restructuring plan fell apart, according to securities filings.

A Chilean wind farm operator backed by Latin American Power has filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. with a restructuring deal that would provide financial relief from a debt default due to increased competition and severe drought, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Santiago-based Inversiones Latin America Power filed for chapter 11 Thursday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, with more than $400 million of debt. Chief Executive Esteban Moraga said a 2019 move by the Chilean government to phase out coal plants and make the country carbon-neutral by 2050 resulted in a proliferation of new renewable projects, in turn creating a shortage of transmission capacity. Other factors pressuring the company’s finances include volatility in the Chilean energy market due to severe drought conditions, he said in a sworn declaration filed in bankruptcy court. Those conditions have resulted in lower energy-generation at the company’s two wind farms, forcing it to buy energy at significantly higher prices in the spot market to honor customer contracts. That move has hurt cash flow, making the company unable to meet its debt obligations. Earlier this year, Inversiones defaulted on its debt and its credit ratings were lowered, partly due to spot price volatility.

Airline SAS AB is set to complete its U.S. chapter 11 process by June following expected regulatory approvals in Europe, according to Chief Executive Officer Anko van der Werff, Bloomberg News reported. That means the process is going according to plan, the CEO said in an interview on Thursday after posting fourth-quarter earnings that saw its adjusted pretax loss widen 30% year-on-year. The Scandinavian carrier filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July 2022, and in October reached a $1.2 billion refinancing deal with a group of investors, including Air France-KLM and Castlelake. A bankruptcy court in New York signed off on the financing earlier this month. If SAS was an American company, it would likely have emerged from the chapter 11 process in February, van der Werff said by phone. “But we also have to go through a Swedish reorganization, which we’ll do straight after in February or March, and then we’ll have to wait for regulatory approval from the European Commission. So all in all, I expect it to take until June or so,” the CEO said. The €833 million ($915 million) in Danish and Swedish state aid from 2020 was approved by European Union state-aid watchdogs Wednesday, after an earlier approval was struck down by an EU court. The decision was expected by SAS, van der Werff said, adding that “everything is on track, really” in terms of the regulatory processes.

An involuntary bankruptcy against Mexico’s TV Azteca has been dismissed, with a bankruptcy-court judge saying that the multimedia conglomerate and its bondholders are involved in a dispute that must play out in U.S. district court, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. TV Azteca had been sued over missed payments to bondholders in a case in district court, and then earlier this year an involuntary bankruptcy petition was filed by a group of bondholders in bankruptcy court. Arguing for dismissal of the bankruptcy petition in August, TV Azteca said the sides are in a bona fide dispute, making the involuntary filing improper. It also said the involuntary petition was filed as a tactical maneuver related to a matter pending in another court, and that the U.S. involuntary bankruptcy would hurt the company. To the extent that an in-court reorganization should occur, it should happen in Mexico, TV Azteca said. In Monday’s ruling, Judge Lisa Beckerman said that TV Azteca’s motion to dismiss points to “the district court action as the evidence that the petitioning creditors’ claims are subject to a bona fide dispute.” “The parties specifically agreed in the indenture to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the Borough of Manhattan with respect to any disputes regarding the notes and the indenture,” the ruling said. The fight stems from $400 million in unsecured bonds that TV Azteca issued in 2017. Beginning in early 2021, it missed several interest payments, primarily blaming the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, certain investors including Contrarian Capital, Invesco and the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio said the bonds were in default and demanded that interest and principal on the 2024 notes be paid in full.

Airline SAS AB received approval from a bankruptcy court in New York for a $1.2 billion rescue package that will see Air France-KLM and private equity firm Castlelake LP become owners in the Scandinavian flag-carrier, Bloomberg News reported. The company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July 2022, saying it faced a significant decline in passenger demand during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as a series of pilot strikes and intense competition from low cost air carriers. The agreement will further consolidate Europe’s aviation industry with Air France-KLM having the option to take a controlling interest after two years under certain conditions. The new shareholder group, which also includes the Danish state and Lind Invest ApS, can now provide the ailing airline with $475 million in new equity and $725 million in secured convertible debt. Castlelake is also lending money to SAS to refinance the $500 million outstanding on a chapter 11 loan provided by Apollo Global Management Inc., which lost out to the Air France-KLM consortium, according to a statement late on Tuesday.

Global ratings agency Fitch said today that it plans to withdraw all the ratings on China's Country Garden Services Holding on or about Dec. 12 for commercial reasons, Reuters reported. "Fitch believes that Country Garden Services investors benefit from increased rating coverage by Fitch and is providing approximately 30 days' notice to the market of the rating withdrawal," the ratings agency said in a statement on Monday. Fitch had downgraded Country Garden Services to BB+ and placed its rating on negative watch last week. Chinese courts had ordered a freeze on 63.68 million yuan worth of shares in two units of Country Garden Service, a sister company of China's property giant Country Garden Holdings, the nation's biggest private property developer. Country Garden Holdings missed its coupon payment in October, triggering default terms. Reuters' had earlier reported citing sources that the company aims to have an offshore debt restructuring plan by year end.