HNA’s Spanish troubles a lesson for all Chinese firms going global

Richard Janura

The South China Morning Post has written an interesting analysis of HNA Group, the very acquisitive Chinese conglomerate. Although the article focuses on the problems with its investment in a Spanish hotel group, HNA has a strong aviation arm, with ownership in numerous Chinese airlines, including Grand China, Hainan, Tianjin, Yangtze River Express, my Cargo and Ghana AWA Airlines. It has recently decided to buy a stake in Virgin Australia, is eyeing Avianca and bought 50% of Servair. Its growth appears to be unstoppable – but, as this article suggests, it may be going too fast for its own good, which has contributed to its being stripped of board representation at the Spanish hotel group. As a professor puts it: “Management control will increasingly be a key challenge for Chinese firms’ acquisitions.”