On Monday, media reports said that Chinese conglomerate HNA Group, which owns Hainan Airlines, has bid to acquire German bank HSH Nordbank AG. HNA is competing with at least four other bidders for the bank, domestic news portal ifeng.com reported, citing sources familiar with the deal.
HNA is working with Austrian asset manager C-Quadrat on a bid for the bank, which focuses on financing for shipping, transportation, real estate and renewable energy, according to the report.
Hit by the 2009 financial crisis, HSH Nordbank was taken over by two states in Germany, and according to a deal with the EU, the two states have until February 2018 to sell the bank or close it, according to media reports.
Also on Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Glencore, one of the largest oil traders in the world, has agreed to sell a majority stake in its oil storage and logistics business for $775 million to the Chinese conglomerate.
On March 26, HNA agreed to buy a 25 percent stake in UK's Old Mutual Plc's asset management unit in the U.S. for $446 million, Bloomberg reported, adding HNA spent $30 billion in overseas deals in 2016.
On March 23, HNA raised its stake in Germany's flagship lender Deutsche Bank from 3.04 percent to 4.76 percent, according to Reuters.
The group is Deutsche's third-largest shareholder after the government of Qatar and BlackRock, which own 10 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively, Reuters said.
HNA is also reportedly in talks with Forbes Media to buy a controlling stake in the company.
