CHINA STEPS UP SCRUTINY
Overseas loans made to Anbang Insurance, Dalian Wanda, Fosun, HNA and AC Milan Chinese owner under probe
CHINESE dealmakers like HNA Group Co cofounder Chen Feng and Fosun International Ltd’s billionaire chairman Guo Guangchang have led a US$310 billion (RM1.33 trillion) overseas acquisition spree since the start of last year. Now, regulators are stepping up scrutiny of these prolific buyers.
The nation’s banking watchdog has asked lenders to provide information on overseas loans made to Anbang Insurance Group Co, Dalian Wanda Group Co, Fosun, HNA and the Chinese owner of the AC Milan soccer team, said people familiar with the matter on Thursday.
While the pace of acquisitions by those five companies has slowed this year, they still have several purchases in progress, from investments in Russia’s biggest gold producer to London real estate and financial assets around the globe.
They’re not the only ones trying to get overseas deals over the finish line. State-owned China National Chemical Corp is working to complete its record US$43 billion deal for Swiss pesticide maker Syngenta AG, first announced in February last year.
Yanzhou Coal Mining Co is trying to fend off a last-minute competing bid from Glencore Plc as it pursues an offer for Rio Tinto Group’s US$2.45 billion Australian coal business.
E-commerce billionaire Jack Ma continues to push his offer for MoneyGram International Inc after United States lawmakers said the deal could pose security risks. Still, the focus remains on the companies singled out by regulators.
HNA said in April it planned to take over CWT, a Singaporebased logistics provider with about 6,000 employees. The deal would give HNA a foothold in Southeast Asia and help it build a transport network across the region, which is being encouraged as part of the Chinese government’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative to revive ancient trade routes. Fosun led a Chinese investor group that agreed last month to buy about 10 per cent of Russia’s biggest gold producer from the family of billionaire Suleiman Kerimov. The deal, which values Polyus at about US$9 billion, is still pending government approvals.