(Yicai Global) March 30 -- The founder of Sunac China Holdings has said he will do everything possible to ensure that the offshore debt restructuring scheme proposed by the struggling Chinese property developer earlier this week is put into place as soon as possible to help the firm get back on its feet quickly.

"There are only two requirements for the offshore debt restructuring," Sun Hongbin, who is also chairman, said at a meeting about the restructuring that was held last night. "The first is speed as this is essential for Sunac to return to normal operations. It also needs to be systematic and thorough to help Sunac out of its difficulties and protect creditors’ interests."

The Tianjin-based firm holds USD10 billion of offshore debt. Creditors can choose between a number of options, including swapping old notes with new ones, the partial conversion of debt to shares of its property management arm Sunac Services or the issuing of convertible bonds, according to the restructuring plan published by Sunac on March 28.

After studying all feasible options, Sunac and its financial consultant Houlihan Lokey firmly believe that this is the best way forward as it will maximize creditors' value, said Yan Danwen, co-head of China restructuring department at the US investment bank.

Those creditors who sign the restructuring deal before April 20 will be paid a cash sum equivalent to 0.1 percent of the mount owed, according to reports.

Sunac’s financial crisis is of its own making, Sun said. The firm was too optimistic and overaggressive in investments, even buying land use rights in the first half of 2021. It came under unprecedented pressure when the market started to sink. And it delegated too much management authorities to units.

Sunac took on board creditors’ opinions regarding sustainable capital structure and the recovery of operations, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director Wang Mengde said. A group of creditors holding over 30 percent of the debts to be restructured have signed the deal and he hopes that more creditors will come on board soon.

Sunac's shares were suspended from trading on the Hong Kong bourse on April 1 last year.

Editors: Zhang Yushuo, Kim Taylor