HNA to hold creditor meeting; restructuring plan folds entities into one group: document

[SHANGHAI] Eleven entities belonging to embattled conglomerate HNA Group, including its flagship carrier, Hainan Airlines, will hold a creditor meeting on Monday, according to a document detailing its debt restructuring plan, seen by Reuters.

Under the plan, the 11 entities will be reorganised as a group and most of the group's liabilities will be reduced via debt-to-equity swaps and shareholder repayments.

Creditors of the entities have reported that they are owed 397.2 billion yuan (S$83.1 billion) of unpaid debt. Only 161.29 billion yuan of this has been recognised by the court and will enter the restructuring process.

Unsecured creditors who are owed no more than 100,000 yuan in principal debt will be repaid in full. Any debt above that level will be paid partly by HNA and other parties, and partly in Hainan Airlines' shares, according to the document.

The creditors' committee still must approve the plan, the document said.

HNA was placed in bankruptcy administration in February and a working group created by the government of its home province of Hainan has been addressing the company's liquidity problems.

Late on Friday, the company said its chairman and chief executive had been detained by Chinese police over suspected criminal offences.

HNA has said that it would be reorganised into four independently operated sections, including ones for aviation and financial business, and that all equity held by its old shareholders would be wiped out.

In the 2010s HNA Group used a US$50 billion global acquisition spree, mainly fuelled by debt, to build an empire with stakes in businesses from Deutsche Bank to Hilton Worldwide.

But its spending drew scrutiny from the Chinese government and overseas regulators. As concerns grew over its mounting debts, it sold assets such as airport services company Swissport and electronics distributors Ingram Micro to focus on its airline and tourism businesses.

REUTERS