HNA nearly completes CWT acquisition

Hong Kong-listed HNA Holding Group Co Ltd is set to complete the acquisition of Singapore's CWT Ltd soon, in a move to enhance the Chinese conglomerate's grand development plan in countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

HNA Holding Group, controlled by HNA Group, announced on Thursday that it now controls more than 90 percent of shares in CWT.

It has given no details of when the deal is to be completed, but said it is "proceeding".

The Singapore Exchange, meanwhile, will suspend trading in CWT shares at the close of the offer on Nov 2, according to the Straits Times.

Total value of the acquisition will be 1.399 billion Singapore dollars (roughly $ 1 billion), according to HNA Holding Group.

Founded in 1970, CWT is a leading provider of integrated logistics and supply chain solutions. Its portfolio covers commodity marketing, financial services, engineering services and logistics.

It operates in more than 90 countries, most of which are involved in China's Belt and Road Initiative.

HNA Holding Group's shares jumped nearly 26 percent to 51 Hong Kong cents ($.07) on Wednesday.

The firm's acquisition of CWT has been named as one of the top 10 mergers and acquisition deals under the Belt and Road Initiative by Morning Whistle, a Chinese overseas M&A data provider based in Shanghai.

HNA, which started out as small domestic airline Hainan Air, has spent tens of billions of US dollars on overseas acquisitions in recent years and turned itself into a global conglomerate.

This month, the Ministry of Commerce gave the green light to HNA Innovation Finance Group, HNA Group's financial services unit that was incorporated in Hong Kong in March, to buy part of Switzerland-based Glencore International's assets.

The main business of HNA Innovation Finance Group covers bulk commodity trading, financial investment and consumer finance products and services.