HNA Group Co (海航集團), the acquisitive owner of China’s fourth-largest airline, has approached the biggest shareholder of CWT Ltd to express interest in a possible bid for control of the Singaporean logistics company, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The Loi family, who controls CWT, is to discuss HNA’s interest in the coming days and could enter exclusive talks with the Chinese company as soon as next week, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
Shares of CWT, which have a market value of about US$931 million, jumped as much as 5.45 percent in Singapore trading yesterday to hit the highest intraday level in more than seven months.
A deal would be the latest in a string of acquisitions by the owner of Hainan Airlines Co (海南航空).
HNA said last month it would buy Swiss airline catering company Gategroup Holding AG for 1.4 billion Swiss francs (US$1.4 billion) and agreed to purchase closely held Carlson Hotels Inc, gaining hospitality brands including Radisson and Park Plaza.
“China is the biggest freight cargo market and having Singapore will give them a wing into a hub where the location is strategic,” Shukor Yusof, founder of aviation consultant Endau Analytics, said by telephone.
“This is all part of China’s push to having its companies to have bigger presence outside the country,” he said.
HNA has assets valued at more than 600 billion yuan (US$92.2 billion), according to its Web site.
The Chinese group runs businesses including hotels, supermarkets, department stores, insurance companies, ship repairs, logistics and airports that generated combined revenue of about 190 billion yuan last year, the Web site shows.
The group’s leasing arm in January completed the acquisition of Avolon Holdings Ltd at an enterprise value of US$7.6 billion, forming the world’s fourth-largest aircraft lessor by asset value.
Tianjin Tianhai Investment Co (天津天海投資發展), a Shanghai-traded affiliate of HNA, announced a US$6 billion takeover of US software distributor Ingram Micro Inc in February.
CWT, founded in 1970, employs about 6,000 people and offers services including commodity logistics, freight forwarding, warehousing and defense procurement, according to its Web site.
It also controls MRI Group Pte, a trader of base metals and petroleum products, and helps manage Cache Logistics Trust, which owns industrial property in Singapore, Australia and China.
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