Chinese real estate company Evergrande files for bankruptcy protection in the US

Real estate developer China Evergrande Group has filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in New York (United States), according to court documents accessed by Bloomberg news agency.

Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection protects the company's assets in the United States while restructuring agreements are being handled in other jurisdictions. International debt restructuring agreements sometimes require a Chapter 15 filing in the course of finalising a transaction. 

Thus, Evergrande's petition refers to restructuring proceedings underway in Hong Kong and the Cayman Islands.

According to Bloomberg, the Chinese construction company has been working for months to finalise a debt restructuring plan outside the country.

It received court approval in July to hold votes on the deal and meetings are scheduled to take place later this month.