The untimely death of Wang Jian, the co-founder and chairman of troubled Chinese conglomerate HNA Group, piles more pressure on the firms investment strategy.
The underfunded Chinese conglomerate is predicted to expedite sales of assets chiefly accumulated on a global spending spree spearheaded by its former chairman. Wang Jian died in an accident in France on July 4, while on a business trip, the company announced his death in a media statement on its website.
Earlier this year the Haikou-based firm offloaded another chunk of its major stake in Deutsche Bank. HNA now holds 7.9 percent following the latest reduction.
Deutsche Move?
In the past, HNA's stake in Deutsche Bank has been touted as a potential asset sale, something the Chinese firm has denied. Following the death of Wang, the recent exit of former Deutsche CEO John Cryan and the appointment of Christian Sewing, that strategy could change.
The Deutsche dilution followed on the back of two initial public offerings which were to have bolstered HNA's cash pile being pulled at the last minute. Until now, HNA has sold some luxury real estate including in New York and Australia, as well as renegotiated some debt.
HNA it seems is wasting no time in raising more cash. The company is now said to be looking for buyers for a luxury house on Hong Kong’s exclusive Victoria Peak it owns, the «South China Morning Post» reported on Friday.
