HONG KONG (REUTERS) – Chinese Estates Holdings, the second-biggest shareholder of embattled developer China Evergrande Group, said on Thursday (Sept 23) it has sold US$32 million (S$43.3 million) worth of its Evergrande stake and plans to exit the holding completely.

Chinese Estates, which owned about 6.5 per cent of Evergrande’s share capital as of Sept 10 according to Refinitiv Eikon data, said it has mandated a sale of all or part of the remaining 5.66 per cent Evergrande stake either on the market or through block trades.

The disposal mandate will be valid for 12 months from the date of a shareholders’ meeting on Sept 23 to approve the sale, it said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Chinese Estates said it had already sold 108.91 million shares, or 0.82 per cent, of Evergrande’s issued share capital between Aug 30 and Sept 21 for HK$246.5 million (S$42.9 million).

The company estimated that if the entire stake is sold, it will realise a loss of about HK$9.49 billion for the year ending in December 2021.