If it had gone through the deal would have been worth HK$20.04 billion ($2.58 billion).

Reuters reported on Tuesday Evergrande's deal to sell a 51% stake in its property services unit has been put on hold, two people with knowledge of the matter said, in a blow to the embattled developer's hopes of avoiding a potentially disruptive default.

Evergrande, teetering on the brink of collapse with more than $300 billion in debt, was in talks to sell the stake in Evergrande Property Services to smaller rival Hopson Development Holdings for around HK$20 billion ($2.6 billion), sources have previously told Reuters.

Trading in shares of China Evergrande, Evergrande Property Services Group and Hopson have been halted since Oct. 4.

($1 = 7.7752 Hong Kong dollars)

(Reporting by Arundhati Dutta; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree and David Evans)

By Arundhati Dutta