HNA Group will sell 65% of its Swiss catering services company gategroup, just two years after it acquired the subsidiary.
On March 6, HNA announced that an initial public offering on Swiss stock exchange, Six, was planned for the end of this month. The listing is expected to raise US$370.5m (CHF350m). As well as selling 65% of its 100% stock in the Swiss catering firm, HNA Group will retain only three out of nine seats on the company's board of directors.
In addition to the sale of gategroup, HNA Group is also reportedly planning to lay off as much as a quarter of its workforce: some 100,000 employees. This has not been confirmed by the Chinese firm, however.
Both moves are part of HNA’s efforts to resolve financial difficulties, with the conglomerate amassing a reported debt of US$100bn by November 2017, according to the Wall Street Journal.
HNA Group is also looking at listing its second Swiss subsidiary, ground handling company Swissport, the Financial Times has reported.
