Bondholder says has not received payment as grace period ends
Country Garden doesn39;t expect to meet all offshore obligations
Company hoping for holistic solution to difficulties

HONG KONG, Oct 18 Reuters A Country Garden 15 million coupon payment deadline has expired without word of payment, fuelling expectations that China39;s biggest private property developer has defaulted on its offshore debt as the nation39;s real estate woes deepen.

Nonpayment would trigger cross defaults in other Country Garden bonds as is standard in bond contracts. The company has almost 11 billion of offshore bonds and a default would set the stage for one of China39;s biggest corporate debt restructurings.

One bondholder of the tranche in question, who declined to be identified discussing confidential information, said he had not received payment on the coupon as a 30day grace period ended. Another source familiar with the situation told Reuters the coupon payment had not been made by 1300 GMT.

Country Garden reiterated on Wednesday that it expects to be unable to meet all of its offshore debt obligations and hopes to seek a holistic solution to its difficulties.

Its statement did not directly address the question of whether there had been a default and representatives of the company declined to comment.

If they don39;t pay within the grace period, it will be a default, said Cedric Rimaud, analyst at GimmeCredit, an independent corporate bond research house, referring to Country…