Chinese conglomerate HNA says chief executive and chair arrested by police

Chinese police have detained the two remaining co-founders of HNA in the latest twist in the collapse of China’s hitherto most acquisitive group. The bankrupt Chinese conglomerate, which is under state control, said chair Chen Feng and chief executive Adam Tan were taken into custody on Friday over suspected crimes, without providing details of the alleged offences. The arrests return to the spotlight one of China’s most tumultuous corporate sagas. The move by Chinese officials comes three years after co-founder Wang Jian fell to his death in Bonnieux, southern France, in what French police said was an accident. The enigmatic trio amassed a debt pile of nearly $90b in an acquisition spree that expanded the group’s assets by about $40bn in just two years in the mid-2010s. What started as an airline became a travel industry-focused conglomerate that owned stakes in the Hilton hotel chain, Dutch transport group TIP Trailer Services and Irish aircraft leaser Avolon. It boasted the biggest single stake in Deutsche Bank, marquee properties such as New York’s 245 Park Avenue and the US electronics group Ingram Micro.* But the acquisitions were highly leveraged — borrowing against its base of Chinese assets — raising concerns about a domino effect back home, if the group suddenly could not repay, or refinance, its debts. Story has full background.<br/>