HNA buys 51% stake in Glencore assets and bids for HSH Nordbank
China's acquisitive HNA Group has agreed to purchase a 51% stake in the oil products storage business of Glencore, subject to regulatory approvals. The deal will result in a newly incorporated company called HG Storage, which will consolidate Glencore's petroleum products storage and logistics businesses into a global portfolio of high-calibre assets. The Chinese conglomerate is also among the bidders for the German state-owned regional bank HSH Nordbank, Germany's largest shipping bank, which is based in its biggest port city. 

The super acquisitive Chinese conglomerate HNA is said to be among the initial bidders for the German Landesbank HSH Nordbank.

The HNA Group, which includes aviation, real estate, financial services, tourism and logistics in its stable, has recently increased its stake in Germany's country’s largest bank, Deutsche Bank, to 4.76 per cent.

HSH Nordbank is located in Germany’s largest port city and is the country’s largest shipping bank. That means it also faces the associated problems as a result of the malaise in global shipping markets.

Room For Negotiation

HSH Nordbank, which received a state bail-out during the 2008-09 financial crisis, is seen as the enfant terrible among Germany’s state-owned regional banks or Landesbanken.

Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, the two north German states that own the lender and had to rescue it during the financial crisis, have until the end of February 2018 to find a buyer for the bank or wind it down, HNA might just have the time and the finance to strike a deal.