HNA puts US$1.4b stake in Hilton spinoff up for sale

[BEIJING] HNA Group plans to sell as much as its entire US$1.4 billion stake in Park Hotels & Resorts as the debt-laden Chinese conglomerate speeds up asset disposals to repay debts.

The sale could involve some or all of HNA and its units' 53.7 million shares, according to a regulatory filing in the US. Any disposal would be subject to market conditions, according to the statement.

HNA bought a quarter of Hilton Worldwide Holdings from Blackstone Group LP last year, as well as similar percentages of two Hilton spinoffs, Park Hotels and Hilton Grand Vacations, for about US$6.5 billion. Those stakes are worth more than US$9 billion today.

The move comes as the once little-known airline operator is actively seeking to dispose assets globally to repay debts after it spent tens of billions dollars in a debt-fueled buying spree that included stakes in Deutsche Bank AG and Hilton.

The group is said to have told creditors in January that it could have a liquidity shortfall of at least 15 billion yuan (S$3.17 billion) this quarter and that it's targeting about 100 billion yuan in asset sales during the first half of the year.

BLOOMBERG