April 8 (Reuters) - Embattled property developer China Vanke Co, is offering to repay upfront 40% of the principal of a yuan bond due this month in return for a one-year extension, sources said on Wednesday.
Vanke won investor approval to extend three yuan bonds under similar terms in January. But it has said it faces "particularly acute" repayment pressure between April and July with 11.3 billion yuan ($1.7 billion) in bonds maturing.
Some 14.7 billion yuan of bonds are due to mature this year.
The bond in question is a 2 billion yuan ($290 million) note with a 3.11% coupon due on April 23, said the sources who were not authorised to speak to media and declined to be identified.
A bondholder meeting is scheduled for April 17, with a voting deadline of April 20.
Vanke did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The developer's Shenzhen-listed shares rose 3.2% by midday, while its Hong Kong stock gained 3.5%.
One of China's best-known real estate developers with $50 billion in debt, Vanke is currently at the centre of the country's protracted property sector crisis which has seen many of its rivals, both big and small, default on debt repayments.
The developer posted a record net loss of about 88.6 billion yuan in 2025 and its contracted sales fell to a 14‑year low.
A default by Vanke, which has many projects in top-tier cities, could hurt homebuyer confidence and ripple out into the broader economy, which is grappling with sluggish growth and tepid consumer spending.
In February, financial publication Octus reported that Shenzhen's municipal government was drafting an 80 billion yuan rescue package for the state-backed developer.
Vanke shocked markets in November with its first known request to extend a bond repayment. Markets had believed it was in better financial position given that major shareholder Shenzhen Metro - owned by the municipal government - had lent the company about 22 billion yuan last year.
($1 = 6.8315 Chinese yuan)
Reporting by Reuters Staff; Editing by Edwina Gibbs
Source: Reuters