News

Law

Asset Management

Investment Banking

Wealth

Hedge Funds

People

Newsletters

Events

Lists

Investment Banking

China’s aggressive new dealmakers: $199bn and counting in 2016

HNA Group, which agreed to buy 25% of Hilton Worldwide, is part of a new breed snagging higher-profile assets in sectors like hotels and movies

HNA swooped for a stake in Hilton Worldwide
HNA swooped for a stake in Hilton Worldwide Photo: Hilton Worldwide

As the West sank into recession in 2008, Chinese tycoon Chen Feng decided it was time to stretch his wings.

Chen's conglomerate, HNA Group, already had a collection of domestic assets that spanned hotel chains, supermarkets, shipping firms and Hainan Airlines, the country's biggest privately held airline. The next place to go, Chen told a local business magazine, was overseas, where the financial crisis was making assets cheap.

WSJ Logo