Agile investigation seen adding to risks for builders
The detainment of Agile Property Holdings Ltd's founder that dragged down the builder's bonds is fueling concern that more developer debt is vulnerable amid China's mounting corruption probes.
Agile's perpetual notes have lost 20 percent since Oct 3, when trading in the company's shares was suspended after Chairman Chen Zhuolin was confined by prosecutors. Authorities in the northern city of Handan, Hebei province, sent teams into 13 developers after a failure to repay funds raised illegally from the public sparked panic and owners of some of the companies fled, according to reports last month from the official Xinhua News Agency and China National Radio.
Zhejiang Xingrun Real Estate Co, a closely held developer near Shanghai, collapsed in March and authorities detained its largest shareholder and his son.
