Radisson Owner is Exploring Sale of Hotel Chain, Sources Say

Chinese conglomerate HNA Group Co. closed the sale for the Minneapolis-based hotel group in late 2016 and is back out looking for an owner, according to Bloomberg.

The Chinese conglomerate that nearly two years ago acquired Radisson Hotel Group is reportedly shopping the Minneapolis-based hotel chain in hopes of finding a new owner.  

People familiar with the matter informed Bloomberg that HNA Group Co. has been in talks recently with hotel chains considered rivals of Radisson, as well as other potential buyers. The sources who shared this information asked not to be named as purported sale discussions were still in private stages.

Haikou, China-based HNA has landed in plenty of headlines over the last few years for its spending habits. Through more than $40 billion in acquisitions since the start of 2016, HNA became something of a household name within the airline, hotel, logistics and financial services industries where it is most prominent. The company, which started as an airline operator, was briefly the biggest shareholder of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG before it sold down its stakes in the last year.

Now the conglomerate is reportedly selling off a number of its assets in effort to cover the debt it owes.

Just last month, HNA was said to have sold the 50-story office building at 33 South Sixth Street in downtown Minneapolis. The building, which adjoins the City Center and counts Target Corp. and law firm Meagher and Geer PLLP among its major tenants, was supposedly sold to technology giant Samsung Group for $320 million, according to people familiar with the deal.

“While it has been widely reported that HNA has recently been exploring the sale of some of its assets, we are in a very strong place with our business and remain committed to our go-forward strategy,” John Kidd, CEO of Radisson’s operations in the Americas and Asia Pacific, told Bloomberg. Whether or not Radisson was up for sale, however, was a question for HNA, Kidd said.

In turn, HNA declined to comment on the matter.

The price HNA paid in 2016 for Radisson Hotel Group—then known as Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group—was never made public, but was expected to be in the neighborhood of $2 billion, Bloomberg reported at the time.

Source:  TCBMag.com