China Evergrande Group didn’t make payments due on some U.S. dollar bonds before a final deadline expired on Monday, people familiar with the matter said, potentially setting the stage for a massive default and one of the country’s largest-ever debt restructurings.
The giant property developer had been teetering on the brink of failure for months after amassing more than $300 billion in liabilities. Last Friday, Evergrande sought help from the government of its home province of Guangdong, which agreed to send a working group to assess and help sort out the company’s issues. The development was regarded by analysts as the start of a managed restructuring of Evergrande, and a prelude to a default by the 25-year-old conglomerate.