The most striking financial news emanating from China in recent weeks has been the seizure by a US investor of a prized asset owned by Evergrande, the collapsing Chinese real estate giant. The asset seized was a sprawling residential development called “Venice” on the Yellow Sea coast near Shanghai. The US investor was distressed debt specialist Oaktree, a $161bn asset manager run by Howard Marks.
Marks is known for not shying away from bare-knuckle fights with delinquent companies and rival creditors. But this deal has a wider significance. Marks’ progress in claiming ownership of the Venice development runs counter to a narrative that China is becoming increasingly uninvestable, especially to foreign investors.
The restructuring deal, under which Oaktree took ownership of the Venice development after Evergrande defaulted on a $400mn secured loan, is likely to have had approval from senior levels of China’s government. It shows that, in some market segments at least, Xi Jinping’s China is prepared to allow important roles for foreign capital.