A decade ago when it was on the rise, Country Garden Holdings Co. Ltd. (2007.HK), having conquered its home China market by feeding an endless appetite for homes from property-hungry Chinese, set its sights it overseas. The Asia Pacific market topped the list of destinations for then-Chairman Yang Guoqiang, who acted swiftly by investing in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Australia. By 2017, the company was working on 17 projects in the region.
Fast forward to the present, when rather than bringing Country Garden new wealth, much of that overseas portfolio has run into a brick-wall, adding to the company’s ongoing financial woes.
Country Garden recently said it planned to sell its remaining interest in its Wilton Greens project in Sydney for A$240 million ($158 million), in a deal that may close by June this year. That came after a sale last October where it offloaded other plots it owned that were part of the Windermere residential project in Melbourne to Singapore’s Frasers Property for A$250 million. A successful sale of the Sydney project would mark a complete exit from Australia for the company.