HNA creditors rebel against Chinese conglomerate’s restructuring plan
China’s long campaign to contain the fallout from the collapse of conglomerate HNA is facing growing opposition from disgruntled Chinese creditors, according to documents and private social media groups. Frustrated creditors have threatened to take their complaints about state administrators handling the group’s bankruptcy to the Chinese Communist party’s internal oversight body, in a dispute that could threaten one of the country’s most complicated and globally significant restructurings. “Our dignity cannot be trampled on! We will never give up,” one claimant said. The overhaul of HNA, which started as an airline and became a global conglomerate, is a critical test of Beijing’s ability to handle “too big to fail” entities, as the country’s economic planners grapple with worse than expected growth alongside crises stemming from property sector indebtedness and crippling energy shortages. Beijing’s approach to HNA, which collapsed after it amassed debts of $90bn, has attracted greater scrutiny amid fears over the fate of Evergrande and the fragility of Chinese corporate restructurings. Evergrande, the world’s most indebted property group, missed interest payments last month, sparking protests from domestic investors and rocking global markets. Tens of thousands of Chinese creditors owed money by Hainan-headquartered HNA have until Wednesday to vote on a proposal to revamp 321 group companies into four new entities, which would hand control of its aviation, airport, financial and commercial units to state and private shareholders. But the deal, which has been years in the making, has drawn scathing criticism from smaller creditors and former employees who believe that their interests have been disregarded in a rush to close an embarrassing episode for Chinese financial regulators. The vote planned for Wednesday is the latest twist in the decades-long saga of HNA, a sprawling conglomerate whose top executives had deep political connections, including to Wang Qishan, China’s vice-president and a close ally of President Xi Jinping.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2021-10-20/unaligned/hna-creditors-rebel-against-chinese-conglomerate2019s-restructuring-plan
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HNA creditors rebel against Chinese conglomerate’s restructuring plan
China’s long campaign to contain the fallout from the collapse of conglomerate HNA is facing growing opposition from disgruntled Chinese creditors, according to documents and private social media groups. Frustrated creditors have threatened to take their complaints about state administrators handling the group’s bankruptcy to the Chinese Communist party’s internal oversight body, in a dispute that could threaten one of the country’s most complicated and globally significant restructurings. “Our dignity cannot be trampled on! We will never give up,” one claimant said. The overhaul of HNA, which started as an airline and became a global conglomerate, is a critical test of Beijing’s ability to handle “too big to fail” entities, as the country’s economic planners grapple with worse than expected growth alongside crises stemming from property sector indebtedness and crippling energy shortages. Beijing’s approach to HNA, which collapsed after it amassed debts of $90bn, has attracted greater scrutiny amid fears over the fate of Evergrande and the fragility of Chinese corporate restructurings. Evergrande, the world’s most indebted property group, missed interest payments last month, sparking protests from domestic investors and rocking global markets. Tens of thousands of Chinese creditors owed money by Hainan-headquartered HNA have until Wednesday to vote on a proposal to revamp 321 group companies into four new entities, which would hand control of its aviation, airport, financial and commercial units to state and private shareholders. But the deal, which has been years in the making, has drawn scathing criticism from smaller creditors and former employees who believe that their interests have been disregarded in a rush to close an embarrassing episode for Chinese financial regulators. The vote planned for Wednesday is the latest twist in the decades-long saga of HNA, a sprawling conglomerate whose top executives had deep political connections, including to Wang Qishan, China’s vice-president and a close ally of President Xi Jinping.<br/>
