【英语财经】海航密集展开全球收购行动 HNA stays ahead of rivals with global acquisitions spree

HNA Group

is driving forward with its global acquisition spree as competitors homing in on Chinese tourists fall silent.

The company, which is based in China’s tropical island province of Hainan and has interests in airlines, infrastructure and hospitality, said yesterday that it had agreed to buy Carlson Hotels, owner of the Radisson

hotel chain, for an undisclosed amount.

That will mark HNA’s second cross-border transaction this month and, including the $6bn buyout of Ingram Micro in January, its fourth since the start of the year, according to data

from Dealogic.

One mergers and acquisitions banker who works in Asia said that HNA’s buying spree has made its offices a popular stop for advisers looking to pitch a range of deals.

“We try not to be too prescriptive. HNA is buying everything under the sun. It’s a diversification move,” the banker said, adding that its tourism deals appeared to be aimed at capitalising on growing enthusiasm for overseas travel among China’s middle class.

The group, which owns two airlines and holds controlling stakes in 10 listed companies, has struck an average of nearly one deal a month over the past

12 months.

It was also a bidder for London City Airport earlier this year but lost out to Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.

HNA is one of the top drivers of cross-border Chinese M&A this year. Several of the price tags on its buyouts have not been disclosed.

Chinese tourists are expected to make 200m outbound trips by 2020, according to CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets.

HNA is not the only conglomerate betting on that business with a stream of overseas acquisitions of hotels. But two of its main competitors in that space have gone quiet recently.

Chinese conglomerate Fosun International, which bought Club Med and a stake in Cirque du Soleil last year, has announced a similar strategy but has made few moves in the international market after its chairman Guo Guangchang disappeared for several days in December in connection with a police investigation.

Anbang Insurance has also sought to tap China’s global tourism market by buying hotels in the US, most notably the Waldorf Astoria for $2bn in 2014.

It too has disappeared from cross-border dealmaking after its $14bn bid for Starwood Hotels & Resorts came crashing down at the end of March.

In the first three months of the year, Chinese companies spent $106bn on outbound deals, nearly shattering the full-year record of $109bn set last year. ChemChina’s $44bn buyout of Swiss agrochemical group Syngenta in February made up nearly half of the total.

People who have dealt with Chen Feng, HNA Group chairman, said he and his acquisition team come to negotiations with a strong focus on the group’s plan for building a global tourism and transportation enterprise.

The strategy, they said, was to control the airports, airlines and aircraft leasing companies that will add value to

its expanding portfolio of hotels and tourism assets.

“They have a very clear view of what they are interested in,” said one person close to a recent deal.

Earlier this month, HNA bought Switzerland’s Gategroup Holding, an airline catering business, for $1.5bn. Last July, it bought baggage handler Swissport International for $2.8bn as well as New York-listed aircraft leasing group Avolon for $2.5bn.

The technology acquired in the Ingram Micro buyout will help build

out HNA’s logistics business, the company has said.

海航集团(HNA Group)正在推进其全球收购行动。而同样瞄准中国游客的竞争对手却没有传出动静。

该集团的总部位于中国的热带岛屿省份海南，其权益涵盖航空公司、基础设施和酒店。它昨日宣布协议收购雷迪森(Radisson)连锁酒店的东家——卡尔森酒店(Carlson Hotels)，这笔交易的金额不详。

Dealogic的数据显示，这将是海航在本月达成的第二笔跨境交易，而如果算上该集团在1月份以60亿美元收购英迈(Ingram Micro)，这将是海航今年迄今达成的第四笔跨境交易。

在亚洲工作的一名并购业务银行家表示，海航的收购热潮使其办公室成了寻求推销各种交易的顾问们经常拜访的地方。

“我们试图避免搞得过于公式化。海航正在收购各种资产。这是一个多元化之举，”这名银行家表示。此人补充说，海航在旅游业的交易似乎意在利用中国中产阶层与日俱增的出境旅游热情。

旗下有两家航空公司、并拥有10家上市公司控股权的海航集团，在过去12个月里几乎平均每月达成一笔交易。

该集团今年早些时候还曾竞标收购伦敦城市机场(London City Airport)，但最终不敌安大略省教师养老金计划(Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan)。

海航是今年中国跨境并购交易的主力之一。其数笔收购交易的价码没有披露。

里昂证券亚太市场(CLSA Asia Pacific Markets)预计，到2020年，中国出境游客规模将达到每年2亿人次。

海航并不是唯一通过收购海外酒店对这块业务押注的企业集团。但它的两个主要竞争对手最近在这方面按兵不动。

去年收购地中海俱乐部(Club Med)、并入股太阳马戏团(Cirque du Soleil)的中国企业集团复星国际(Fosun International)，曾宣布类似的战略，但自其董事长郭广昌去年12月失联数日配合警方调查以来，在国际市场上几乎没有什么动作。

安邦保险(Anbang Insurance)也试图通过收购美国的酒店来挖掘中国的全球旅游市场，最引人注目的是在2014年斥资20亿美元收购纽约华尔道夫酒店(Waldorf Astoria hotel)。

自安邦以140亿美元收购喜达屋酒店及度假村集团(Starwood Hotels & Resorts)的努力在3月底以失败告终后，该集团也从跨境交易的舞台上消失。

今年头三个月，中国企业在境外收购交易上支出1060亿美元，几乎要打破去年创下的全年最高纪录（1090亿美元）。中国化工(ChemChina) 2月份收购瑞士农业综合企业先正达(Syngenta)的440亿美元交易占了总额的近一半。

同海航集团董事长陈峰打过交道的不止一名人士表示，他和他的收购团队在谈判中紧紧围绕打造全球旅游和运输企业这个目标。

他们表示，海航的战略是控股机场、航空公司和飞机租赁公司，为其不断扩大的酒店及旅游资产组合增添价值。

“他们对于自己感兴趣的资产有非常明确的看法，”接近近期一笔交易的一名人士表示。

本月早些时候，海航斥资15亿美元收购瑞士的Gategroup Holding，这是一家为航空公司提供餐食的企业。去年7月，海航以28亿美元收购地勤服务集团瑞士空港(Swissport)，以25亿美元收购在纽约上市的飞机租赁集团Avolon。

海航已表示，通过收购英迈获取的技术将帮助发展海航的物流业务。

译者/和风