HNA in talks to buy stake in Air France’s Servair

China’s HNA Group is in talks to buy a 49.99% stake in Air France’s Servair in a deal that would give the French carrier’s air services company an enterprise value of GBP475m. The move, first reported by the FT, aims to create what is expected to be the world’s biggest airline catering company by revenues, combining Servair with Gategroup, for which HNA Group made a tender offer last month. It also highlights the aggressive expansion of HNA, which is based in China’s tropical island province of Hainan, as it seeks to become an international force. The group, which owns two airlines and holds controlling stakes in 10 listed companies, has struck on average nearly one deal a month over the past 12 months. It was also a bidder on London City airport earlier this year but lost out to Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.<br/>Servair, which provides cleaning and catering to the aviation industry, employs 10,000 people and last year had sales of E792m. Air France said Monday that the talks had sprung from “wishes to provide Servair with the resources to ensure its growth and maintain the highest standards”. Servair has remained on the sidelines of consolidation in airline catering in recent years, missing out on opportunities to grow in an industry that increasingly relies on scale to compete. It is understood that a deal, which is dependent on HNA’s successful acquisition of Gategroup, would see the Chinese company take operational control of Servair. In a second stage, Air France would sell a further 30% of the company to HNA two years after selling the initial 49.99 % stake. Air France expects to sign a deal by the end of the summer.<br/>