China Evergrande officially defaulted just a week after it sold Protean to London-based EV tech startup Bedeo, making it the largest real estate with over $300 billion in assets to belly up

Just last week we wrote about China Evergrande after the troubled real estate giant sold in-wheel pioneer Protean to London-based EV tech startup Bedeo. Evergrande sold off some of its assets and subsidiary to pay off its $300 billion debt.

Now Evangrande is no longer grande. According to a report from Yahoo News, China Evergrande Group today has officially defaulted on interest payments on its bonds to international investors. Germany-based DMSA, which invested in these bonds and has not received any interest payments until today’s end of the grace period, said it’s preparing bankruptcy proceedings against Evergrande Group and calls on all bond investors to join it.

“China Evergrande Group, the second-largest real estate developer in China, defaulted on interest payments on two bonds back in September, with the 30-day grace period still ending in October. However, shortly before the end of the grace period, the public was misled by rumors about alleged interest payments. The international media also took the rumors for granted. Only the DMSA – Deutsche Marktscreening Agentur (German Market Screening Agency) already recognized the default at that time and proved in a study that the bankruptcy of Evergrande, the world’s most indebted corporation, could ultimately lead to a “Great Reset”, i.e. the final meltdown of the global financial system,” the press release reads.

#Evergrande officially defaulted – DMSA prepares bankruptcy proceedings against Evergrande Group#China Evergrande Group today again defaulted on interest payments to international investors

The public was misled by rumors about alleged interest paymentshttps://t.co/muuGZ26qxO

— Indo-Pacific News – Geo-Politics & Defense (@IndoPac_Info) November 10, 2021

Protean, whose headquarters are in Farnham, UK, was founded in 2008. The history of the company can be traced back to the pioneering British developer of pancake motors, Printed Motors (later renamed PML Flightlink), which was founded in 1963 and split in 2009 to form Protean and Printed Motor Works, which still manufactures low-profile motors in the UK.

In 2019, Protean was acquired by National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), a subsidiary of Evergrande Health, as part of Evergrande’s strategy to become a major player in the global EV industry. NEVS was based on Saab Automobile, whose assets Evergrande acquired following the Swedish carmaker’s bankruptcy in 2012. In January 2019, Evergrande Health acquired a 51% stake in NEVS, which it combined with Protean and several other automotive companies to create the New Energy Vehicle group.

Commenting on the default and the bankruptcy filing, DMSA senior analyst Dr. Marco Metzler said: “But while the international financial market has so far met the financial turmoil surrounding the teetering giant Evergrande with a remarkable basic confidence – one can also say: with remarkable naivety – the U.S. central bank Fed confirmed our view yesterday.” Metzler added, “In its latest stability report, it explicitly pointed out the dangers that a collapse of Evergrande could have for the global financial system.”

Evergrande is the second-largest property developer in China by sales. Its woes started more than a year ago. Then on Sept. 23 and Sept. 29., on its $300 billion debt, which some said could trigger one of China’s largest defaults.

In a statement, DMSA said: “In order to be able to file for bankruptcy against the company as a creditor, DMSA itself invested in Evergrande bonds, whose grace period expired today (Nov. 10, 2021). In total, Evergrande would have had to pay $148.13 million in interest on three bonds no later than today.”

“But so far we have not received any interest on our bonds,” explains Metzler. He adds, “With banks in Hong Kong closing today, it’s certain that these bonds have defaulted.”