CHINESE HNA GROUP BUYS 25 PERCENT STAKE IN HILTON

HNA Group, China's aviation and shipping company, extended its push into hotels, paying USD 6.5 billion to buy a 25 percent stake in Hilton Worldwide Holdings, from the biggest shareholder, Blackstone Group LP.

HNA agreed to buy its shares in Hilton for USD 26.25 each, valuing the whole of Hilton at about USD 26 billion. Blackstone took Hilton private in 2007 for USD 26.7 billion, including debt. The deal marks the second investment in the hotel industry this year by ambitious and fast-growing HNA, now the operator of more than a dozen airlines including flagship carrier Hainan Airlines Co.

In April, HNA bought Carlson Hotels Inc, owner of Radisson hotels, for an undisclosed sum. It also comes as Chinese companies step up hotel deals to tap free-spending mainland China tourists, now traveling overseas in record numbers. Their spending at home and abroad is expected to hit USD 72 billion this year, according to China Travel Academy, a governmentbacked research institute. Chinese companies have also been splurging on foreign acquisitions to sidestep slowing growth at home. The HNA deal would take China's overseas M&A to a record USD 191 billion so far this year, more than 70 percent of 2015's tally. In April, Chinese insurer Anbang Insurance Group Co, owner of the Waldorf Astoria in New York, abandoned its pursuit of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide following a bidding war with Marriott International Inc. Marriott completed the acquisition of Starwood in September to create the world’s biggest hotel chain.