Move comes a week after HNA Group sold two of its four land parcels in Hong Kong for HK$16 billion to rival Henderson Land
Debt-laden mainland conglomerate HNA Group has pledged 40.98 per cent of its stake in its Hong Kong-listed Hong Kong International Construction Investment Management Group (HKICIM) to PAG Holdings as security for a loan, according to the company’s disclosure to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Wednesday.
The move comes amid fundraising efforts by the group to pay down debt, including the sale of two plots of land in Hong Kong to Henderson Land Development last week.
The company did not reveal the loan amount or its purpose.
However, the pledged shares could provide HNA between HK$1 billion (US$127.7 million) to HK$1.5 billion, according to people close to the deal.
China’s troubled HNA Group flips Kai Tak plots to Henderson Land for a profit of HK$1.7 billion
Liu Junchun, vice-chairman of HKICIM, said it was the controlling shareholder HNA Group, which owns 74.66 per cent, that had pledged the shares.
He too did not provide details.
“This obviously shows the group is having difficulties in arranging syndicated loans from banks on the mainland and in Hong Kong,” said Li Kwok-suen, fund manager at Phillip Capital Management.
