HNA buys German airport despite pressure on debt

HNA Group said Thursday it has bought a German airport in a further sign that a regulatory clampdown on outbound acquisitions has yet to curb the group’s ability to close deals. Valued at E15.1m, the purchase of 82.5% of the Frankfurt-Hahn Airport from the state of Rhineland-Palatinate represents just a fraction of the more than $40b in deals HNA has inked in almost three years. But it was significant in that it happened at all. HNA, along with Anbang Insurance, Dalian Wanda and Fosun, have been at the centre of a crackdown on overseas M&A since June, when banks were told to assess their exposure to the Chinese groups. Since then, regulators in China have highlighted the systemic risk posed by the groups’ high leverage, casting doubt on their ability to continue their offshore asset binge. This pressure conintues. China’s foreign exchange watchdog said last week it was looking into cases where companies used fraudulent onshore collateral to gain access to offshore bank financing. Crossing the small German airport deal off its list of pending transactions, HNA is left with about $5bn in unclosed cross-border acquisitions, according to Dealogic.<br/>