Debtwire‘s 2Q25 APAC Restructuring Advisory Mandates Report shows that the number of mandates awarded to insolvency and restructuring professionals across Asia-Pacific dropped to a five-year low in 2Q25, when the number of new mandates outside of mainland China fell to a single digit for the first time since Debtwire began tracking mandate activities in APAC in 2017.

A total of 26 new mandates were awarded in 2Q25, down from 59 in 1Q25 or 74 in 2Q24. The advisory roles awarded in 2Q25 were related to 18 situations involving a total of USD 25.8bn debt, down from USD 83.9bn in 1Q25 and USD 56.8bn in 2Q24.

For the six months ended 30 June 2025, a total of 85 mandates were awarded, involving 45 situations and USD 104.6bn of debt. By comparison, there were 133 new mandates in 1H24 involving 49 situations and USD 112.5bn of debt.

Mainland China remains dominant

China remained the main source of mandates for insolvency and restructuring professionals in the region in 2Q25, accounting for 19 mandates, or 73.1% of the total, involving USD 22.9bn debt, or 88.5% of the total, across 12 situations.

Within China, the real estate sector contributed 14 mandates across nine situations. These mandates were related to USD 20.4bn debt, or 79.1% of total.

In 1H25, China accounted for 46 mandates (54.1%) across 25 situations, involving USD 72.8bn debt (69.6%).

Outside mainland China

In 2Q25, seven new mandates – two from Hong Kong, two from Sri Lanka, two from India and one from Australia – were from elsewhere in the region outside of mainland China. Of these four jurisdictions, Sri Lanka was the only jurisdiction that saw an increase in new mandates, due to the ongoing restructuring process of SriLankan Airlines.

Sri Lanka

The government-controlled airline operator announced in May that it has appointed advisors to engage in restructuring talks with holders of its USD 175m due-June 2024 notes, on which it has been in default since June 2022. The advisory appointment came after the government terminated a number of turnaround plans for SriLankan Airlines, including a consent solicitation that was terminated in January 2023 as well as a proposed privatization plan terminated in September 2024.

Legacy situations dominate

Of the 26 new mandates in 2Q25, a total of 19 came from 14 legacy situations and involved USD 22.7bn debt. Debtwire defines legacy situations as situations in which there has been a company-side mandate awarded or a known event of default prior to the start of this quarter. Five legacy situations involved more than USD 1bn debt, including four from mainland China – Kaisa Group Holdings, Powerlong Real Estate, China SCE Group Holdings and China Energy Reserve and Chemicals Group – and one from Hong Kong – New World Development.

In 2Q25, there were four new situations, including two Chinese real estate situations that involved more than USD 1bn debt:

• Road King Infrastructure – The China-focused developer announced on 14 July that it would revise the terms of its proposed consent solicitation that was launched on 20 June for its five USD bond tranches. As Debtwire reported on 4 July, a bondholder group holding a blocking stake of more than 25% in at least one bond tranche sent a letter to Road King’s advisor rejecting key terms of the consent solicitation and offering alternatives. The consent solicitation calls for capitalizing 2026 coupons on the five bond tranches. (Debtwire’s restructuring plan summary)
• Zhongliang Holdings Group – On 30 June, the developer completed a consent solicitation for its due-July 2027 notes and due-July 2027 CBs after holders with 82% of straight notes and 92% of CBs submitted their consent by the CS fee deadline. The process sought to defer payments and maturities of the two note tranches for two years, as well as reduce coupon rates by half, and capitalize interests accruing from 1 July 2025 to 31 December 2026 based on reduced coupon rates.

Top advisors

FTI Consulting won the most mandates of any financial advisory firm in 2Q25, with four mandates involving USD 12.7bn debt. Of these, the largest one by mandated debt was its role acting as the monitoring agent in Kaisa Group’s scheme of arrangement processes to restructure USD 12.3bn of offshore debt. The advisor was also mandated as receivers over assets under two real estate-related private companies – Lead Delight in Hong Kong and RoYue, the shareholding vehicle of Zhenro Properties’ controlling shareholder Ou Zongrong. It was also mandated on Chinese recycling company Chiho Environmental Group. PJT Partners and Houlihan Lokey followed FTI Consulting, with two mandates each.

Hong Kong-based local law firm Johnson Stokes & Master (JSM) topped the legal-counsel rankings with two mandates in 2Q25. For both mandates, JSM acted as the legal counsel for the petitioners in the Hong Kong winding-up petitions filed against Chinese developer China South City and Chinese oilfield equipment manufacturer Hilong Holding. The petitioners in both situations are the trustees of the companies’ defaulted offshore bonds.

Eight other legal advisors were awarded one mandate each in 2Q25.

Debtwire’s Restructuring Database covers APAC (ex-Japan) restructuring/liquidation situations involving debtors with debt in excess of USD 100m and starts tracking these situations when 1) the debtor engages a restructuring advisor, and/or 2) a restructuring/liquidation process is officially launched. If you would like to submit mandates, please email [email protected].