China buys Carlson
China’s HNA Group has snapped up Carlson Hotels, the owner of the Radisson hotel chain, for an undisclosed sum.
HNA Tourism Group, part of the aviation and shipping conglomerate HNA Group, will buy 100 percent of Carlson Hotels.
The deal will include its 51.3 percent majority stake in the Brussels-based Rezidor Hotel Group which manages more than 1400 hotels across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
HNA has to decide whether to sell down its holding in Rezidor Hotel Group to below 30 percent or launch a mandatory public tender for the remaining 48.7 percent of the company.
HNA says it will maintain Carlson’s headquarters in the US, ensuring the local managers will keep running the operation.
HNA started as an airline shuttling tourists to and from what was dubbed China’s Hawaii. Today, its flagship Hainan Airlines Co. It’s China’s fourth-largest publicly listed airline by fleet size and has since expanded into other areas such as logistics, hotels, retail, real estate and travel.
HNA Tourism's CEO Bai Haibo said the firm is banking on the well-known Radisson brand to help "establish our presence in the U.S. market and expand our footprint in hospitality internationally."
Chinese companies have been splurging on overseas hotel acquisitions, agreeing to at least $92.3 billion worth of foreign takeovers.
Anbang Insurancehas bought up the famous Waldorf Astoria in New York and Fosun International has purchased France's Club Mediterranee.
Shanghai Jin Jiang International Hotels Group swooped on France’s Louvre Hotels Group—the second-largest European hotel group— last year for 1.21 billion euros (A$1.8 billion).
Beijing-based Anbang Insurance Group made an unsuccessful $14 billion last month to buy Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. after agreeing to a deal with Marriott International Inc.
The Carlson deal is still subject to regulatory approvals.
It is expected to close in the second half of 2016.
by Leon Gettler, 29th April 2016
