Evergrande: Investors kept waiting over 'major' deal

As investors wait for an announcement about the future of struggling Chinese real estate giant Evergrande, two more property companies are causing concerns over their ability to repay debt.

On Monday, Evergrande's shares were suspended ahead of "an announcement containing inside information about a major transaction".

The firm is reportedly set to sell a large stake in one of its businesses.

Evergrande has struggled to meet debt interest payments in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, two other Chinese property firms have hit financial trouble after missing debt payments. Evergrande's recent problems have meant that the sector is now facing intense scrutiny.

On Tuesday, Sinic Holdings became the latest Chinese developer to be downgraded by a global ratings agency.

Fitch Ratings said it downgraded Sinic after the company said it had missed interest payments and due to uncertainty over a $246m bond repayment due later this month.

The boss of Shanghai-based Sinic hit the headlines last month when he lost more than a billion dollars in a market selloff linked to concerns about Evergrande.

Zhang Yuanlin saw his personal wealth drop from $1.3bn (£0.96bn) to $250.7m on 20 September, according to Forbes, when his company was forced to suspend trading of its shares in Hong Kong following an almost 90% slump in their value.

On Monday, Shenzhen-based Fantasia Holdings said it had failed to repay a $205.7m bond.

That sent the market value of the Chinese homebuilder's dollar-denominated bonds down by almost 50%.

So far, Beijing has not commented directly on Evergrande's financial problems although the country's central bank and state media have signalled that the government is ready to help protect individual citizens exposed to the property market.

Rival Hong Kong-listed property company Hopson Development is set to buy a 51% stake in Evergrande Real Estate for around $5bn, according to Chinese media reports.

The potential deal would give the world's most indebted property developer a much needed cash injection as it tries to raise the funds to make payments to customers, investors and suppliers.

Fears have grown in recent weeks about Evergrande's problems spreading through the world's second largest economy and having an impact on the global financial markets.