The number of debt-restructuring-advisory appointments in APAC (ex-Japan) dropped sharply in 3Q24 both QoQ and YoY. Mandate activity across the region was uneven, with appointments for Chinese situations falling significantly, and those for Australian and Indian situations picking up.

In total, there were 49 mandates in 3Q24 (down 25.8% QoQ, 23.4% YoY), compared with 66 in 2Q24 and 64 in 3Q23. The 3Q24 mandates covered an aggregate USD 38.8bn debt (down 29.1% QoQ, 31.0% YoY), compared with USD 54.8bn in 2Q24 and USD 56.3bn in 3Q23.

For the nine months ended September 2024, restructuring situations in APAC have generated 168 mandates (down 7.7% YoY) across 69 (down 6.8% YoY) situations involving an aggregate USD 139.7bn debt (down 6.7% YoY). By comparison, there were 182 mandates awarded across 74 situations involving an aggregate USD 149.8bn debt.

Where mandates increased

Australia saw the biggest QoQ pickup in mandates as situations there resulted in 15 mandates, compared with only five in 2Q24. The 3Q24 situations involved USD 503m in debt versus USD 546m in 2Q24. The largest of the six Australian situations was that of domestic airline Regional Express Holdings, which had around USD 296m debt at the time it entered itself into administration.

Indian situations awarded eight mandates in 3Q24 on USD 11.8bn debt, which represented a sharp QoQ increase from three mandates involving USD 2.5bn debt in 2Q24. The six Indian situations in 3Q24 were generally quite large, with four of them involving more than USD 1bn in debt.

• Jaiprakash Associates: The construction company’s lenders appointed a legal advisor and a new financial advisor in September 2024 to assist the interim resolution professional. The company, which has USD 6.2bn debt, was ordered into a Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) in June 2024. Jaiprakash’s mandated debt was the largest in this report for 3Q24.
• Future Retail: The domestic retailer, which has USD 2.4bn debt, was ordered into liquidation by the Mumbai NCLT in July 2024.
• GVK Power & Infrastructure: The Indian conglomerate, which has USD 1.7bn debt, was placed into a CIRP by the Hyderabad NCLT in July 2024.
• Think and Learn Pvt (Byju’s): The online education platform operator’s CIRP process was put on hold by the Indian Supreme Court in September 2024. The company, which has USD 1.2bn debt, is currently involved in legal disputes in both the US and India.

Hong Kong saw a very modest pickup in mandates with two in 3Q24 on USD 1.3bn in debt, versus one mandate involving USD 562m debt in 2Q24.

China down

The number of mandates from mainland China was 22 across 14 situations involving USD 24.6bn debt, compared with 29 mandates involving USD 49.4bn debt in 2Q24.

Chinese real estate

In 3Q24, Chinese real-estate companies provided a significant chunk of the overall mandates in APAC, but the sector’s share declined for the second quarter in a row. Real-estate situations in China awarded 14 mandates in 3Q24 (28.6% of total APAC mandates) on USD 15.7bn debt (40.5% of debt advised on in APAC). In 2Q24, Chinese real-estate situations handed out 20 mandates (30.3% of the APAC total) on USD 47.8bn debt (87.2% of the APAC total).
The 14 mandates in 3Q24 stemmed from eight situations, five of which had more than USD 1bn in debt (see table above for the largest situations in this report). The only new situation among these five was Guangzhou R&F, which appointed advisors to formulate another holistic restructuring plan for its offshore debt in August 2024, roughly two years after it completed a term-out consent solicitation for its then ten outstanding USD bond tranches.

New situations

Other than R&F, Jiangsu Delong Nickel Industry was the only other situation that began in 3Q24 and involved more than USD 1bn debt. The Chinese nickel-alloy producer and distributor entered into a restructuring process in August 2024 after the Jiangsu Xiangshui County People’s Court accepted a petition filed by creditor Zheshang Development Group.

The other new situations were Regional Express Holdings, APH Holding and Public Hospitality Group in Australia;  Zettai Pte in Singapore; Land Master Global in Hong Kong; as well as China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group in China.

Top advisors 

White & Case won the most mandates of any law firms in 3Q24, with three mandates involving USD 3.8bn debt. These were related to 1) the Hong Kong winding-up petition filed against Guangzhou R&F by secured lender SeaTown Holdings; 2) the holistic offshore-debt restructuring of real-estate developer Logan Group; and 3) the administration process of Regional Express Holdings.

Deloitte topped the financial-advisor rankings in 3Q24 with four mandates involving USD 6.8bn debt. Other than its roles as financial advisor for creditors of Jaiprakash Associates and Regional Express Holdings, Deloitte was also engaged in two Chinese real-estate situations: as a company-side FA for Dexin China, and as a receiver over certain pledged assets originally owned by Agile Group.