Chinese regime arrested chairman and CEO of HNA, one of the country’s largest private groups

The two most important executives of the HNA group were arrested by the Chinese police, a few days after one of the largest private conglomerates in the country split into four separate companies after bankruptcy restructuring.

The founder and former president of HNA, Chen Feng, and the former CEO Adam tan xiangdong they were arrested for “Alleged crimes”the group reported in a statement on its official WeChat account. “The HNA Group and its member companies operate in a stable and orderly manner. The restructuring (of the company) after the bankruptcy is going smoothly and its production and operations have not been affected ”, reported, according to South China Morning Post.

The HNA conglomerate was founded on the foundations of Hainan Airlines, China’s most successful private airline.

In three decades, HNA has gone from being a regional airline to that of one of the largest private companies in China and one of the largest buyers of assets. Much of the growth, aided by bank lending, began after 2010, when Chen has set a goal for HNA to be one of the Fortune 100 companies., classified according to their assets.

At its peak, HNA’s assets, estimated at $ 50 billion, covering the whole world, from the greatest participation to Deutsche Bank to a quarter of Hilton Hotels and Resorts, passing a package at the old Kai Tak airport in Hong Kong.

The asset purchase put HNA into debt worth 500 billion yuan ($ 77.3 billion).according to Gu Gang, managing director and head of the working committee in charge of group affairs.

Following a meeting with 2,700 key group officials who attended in person and virtually, Gu said they should strengthen its cohesion and follow the directives of the Chinese Communist Party.

“HNA’s bankruptcy restructuring is in its final stages”he said in a company statement, according to the South China Morning Post. “Each business unit must revisit the hard lessons learned over the past 28 years of development. We must understand that it is the party and the nation that gave HNA the opportunity to be reborn, and follow the party’s instructions.The company reported.

As part of the restructuring of HNA, the group will be divided into four parts, each unit operating independently in the aviation, airports, finance and commerce sectors.

Hainan Airlines will receive a strategic investment of Liaoning Fangda Industrial Group, a conglomerate of companies in the coal, steel and pharmaceutical sectors.

In four months, the company paid HK $ 27.2 billion (US $ 3.5 billion) for four sites in Kai Tak to build luxury apartments facing the sea.

After experiencing financial hardship, she was forced to sell them all. It grossed HK $ 2.54 billion in the first three, but lost HK $ 740 million in the last.

HNA fu group one of four Chinese conglomerates that have come under scrutiny for its debt-focused asset acquisitions, with the Anbang group, the CEFC group and the Dalian Wanda group.

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