Mexican Homebuilder Urbi Files Prepackaged Bankruptcy Plan

By Amy Guthrie 

MEXICO CITY--Troubled Mexican home builder Urbi Desarrollos Urbanos SAB said on Tuesday that it has filed a prepackaged bankruptcy plan, after having reached a restructuring plan supported by most of its creditors.

The restructuring plan would restore Urbi's ability to take out bridge loans with its bank creditors, inject new capital into the company and modify terms of existing debt, the company said.

Creditors that signed onto the agreement include Mexican bank Grupo Financiero Banorte, Prudential Real Estate Investors, Ashmore Investment Management Ltd. and BlueBay Asset Management LLP, Urbi said. Creditors that signed on to the plan hold 21.9 billion pesos ($1.55 billion) in Urbi debt, or just over 53% of the company's total debt.

The company's restructuring plan contemplates the construction and sale of 10,000 homes in the 12 months following the closing of the bankruptcy process and more than 29,000 homes a year by 2020.

Mexicali-based Urbi is one of three major Mexican home builders, along with Mexico City-based Corporación Geo SAB and Culiacan-based Desarrolladora Homex SAB that struggled with serious cash restraints for more than a year following a dramatic government policy shift for Mexico's low-income-housing sector.

Debt troubles brought construction by the three builders to a virtual standstill. Geo struck a deal with creditors and filed for bankruptcy in March, followed by Homex in May.

Urbi said Tuesday that its liquidity situation remains "limited."

A shift in government priorities last year urged builders to construct more apartments closer to urban areas, which require larger amounts of working capital up front than the free-standing homes they were mostly building. The change also left the builders with unusable land in far-flung areas.

The transition to apartments was complicated by the arrival of a new government in December 2012, leading to slowed disbursements of government subsidies and uncertainty about the extent of future government support for the sector.

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