HNA Group Wants To Sell Its $6.5B Stake In Hilton Worldwide

The Chinese company has already sold or is seeking to sell two other Hilton spin-offs as it sheds assets to pay down its debt.

Hilton Washington

McLEAN, VA–HNA Group is seeking to sell “some or all” of its 26% stake in Hilton Worldwide, according to a regulatory filing made on Thursday. The Chinese company’s stake in the hotel conglomerate is approximately $6.5 billion.

The sale would be done through one or more stock offerings, and their timing would depend on market conditions.

HNA bought its stake in Hilton in 2016 from Blackstone Group. It then inherited a stake in Hilton Grand Vacations when the business was spun off the following year. Park Hotels & Resorts, as well, was spun out of Hilton Worldwide in early 2017 and HNA inherited that holding as well

Last month HNA sold its 25% stake in Hilton Grand Vacations for $1.1 billion. It also announced that it was seeking to sell “some or all of its Park Hotels stake, which is also 25% and reportedly worth about $1.4 billion.

HNA, an erstwhile airline that turned mega global investor, has been selling off its assets to pay down debt and in response to a recent Chinese government policy change on what type of overseas investments a company can own.

HNA has also sold its stake in Deutsche Bank, while maintaining a 9% ownership.