Chinese Conglomerate HNA to Buy Stake in U.S. Asset Manager
March 25 2017 - 7:28PM
Dow Jones News
By Justin Baer
A unit of HNA Group agreed to acquire a stake in U.S. investor
OM Asset Management PLC, the latest deal in the Chinese
conglomerate's ambitious global buying spree.
HNA Capital US plans to pay about $446 million in cash in two
tranches, leaving the company with 24.9% of OM Asset Management, an
arm of U.K. insurer Old Mutual PLC.
HNA Group, whose domestic interests range from hotel chains and
supermarkets to Hainan Airlines, has turned to international
markets for growth. The conglomerate struck a deal last year for
Ingram Micro Inc., a U.S.-based computer-logistics company. In
January, it agreed, along with RON Transatlantic EG, to buy a stake
in hedge-fund investing firm SkyBridge Capital from founder Anthony
Scaramucci, a surrogate for U.S. President Donald Trump who had
exited the business to help secure a White House position. And just
this week, HNA agreed to buy 245 Park Avenue, a 1.8
million-square-foot New York skyscraper, for $2.21 billion.
OM Asset Management oversees $240 billion in assets, and earned
$126.4 million last year. The business will ultimately add two
HNA-nominated directors to its board, Old Mutual said Saturday in a
statement.
The deal will drop Old Mutual's stake in the money-management
business to 25.9%. It also ends a yearlong mystery shrouding the
business's future. Old Mutual unveiled plans in March 2016 to break
up its four divisions by the end of 2018, and within weeks
potential bidders for OM Asset Management emerged.
HNA will buy a 9.95% stake in OM Asset Management for $15.30 a
share, then add another 15% through a second deal that pays Old
Mutual $15.75 for each share of the U.S. unit, Old Mutual said.
The two purchases will still keep HNA just below the ownership
threshold that would have required client approval, a person
familiar with the deal said. News of the agreement was reported
earlier by the Financial Times.
Write to Justin Baer at justin.baer@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 25, 2017 20:13 ET (00:13 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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