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HONG KONG – The co-chairman and co-founder of the HNA Group, a Chinese conglomerate that has invested heavily in recent years to gain a global profile but has since been struggling with high debt, has died. an accidental fall in France. said Wednesday.
Wang Jian, 57, was carrying out an official inspection in France when the fall occurred, said HNA. He said he died of his injuries Tuesday after medical staff took emergency measures to save his life. HNA did not disclose additional details.
Wang's death comes as the company continues to try to control its finances.
HNA has spent tens of billions of dollars in recent years to buy financial corporations, hotels, real estate and other investments around the world. He also bought Ingram Micro, a US technology distributor, two years ago, for $ 6 billion, and he took major shares in large companies like Hilton Hotels and Deutsche Bank.
Wang played a key role in the rise of the business from a state-controlled regional enterprise to a large conglomerate. His brother, Wang Wei, also played a major role, although much of his work was behind the scenes.
But the corporate spending spree left him $ 90 billion in debt at a difficult time. Last year, Chinese authorities began to take a skeptical look at Chinese companies that were buying billions of dollars in global assets with brand names but little strategic value. In China, HNA was often associated with companies that the official media called Gray Rhinoceros – important and visible problems that go unnoticed until they start to stop too much. quick.
sell billions of dollars worth of assets, it still shows signs of financial stress. Just this week, an Australian company said its proposed sale of its refrigerated logistics business to HNA failed partly because of the liquidity problems of Chinese society.
HNA also challenged the question of who controls society. Last year, he said that his largest shareholder, a mysterious businessman named Guan Jun, has transferred his interest to a charitable trust. Regulators from the United States, Switzerland, Germany and New Zealand have requested clarification from HNA.
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