Evergrande to sell $1.5b stake in Chinese bank

Evergrande has plans to sell off a $1.5 billion stake in Shengjing Bank to state-owned asset-management firm Shenyang Shengjing Finance Investment Group, according to a filing submitted to the Hong Kong Exchange.

The filing states the Chinese developer is selling 1.75 billion shares. Evergrande’s stake will drop to 14.6 percent from 34.5 percent.

Evergrande Group in recent weeks has warned it could default on its debts. Shengjing Bank has indicated Evergrande can use the net proceeds from the stake sale to repay Evergrande’s debt with the bank, according to a regulatory filing. The Wall Street Journal reported the financial obligations totaled $304 billion in liabilities at the end of June, including $88.5 billion in interest-bearing debt. Recently, the firm could not fulfill its interest payments on its U.S.-dollar bond, amounting to $83 million.

Evergrande has been