BEIJING (AFP) – Embattled Chinese conglomerate HNA Group, which has been struggling to resolve a drawn-out cash crisis, announced on Friday it faces bankruptcy, in one of the biggest corporate downfalls in the country’s history.
The group, which owns one of China’s biggest airlines – Hainan Airlines – and is China’s largest private aviation conglomerate, said in a statement that its creditors had applied to a court for the group’s bankruptcy and reorganisation as it could not pay off due debts.
Once an aggressive dealmaker, HNA previously held stakes in the Hilton hotel group and Deutsche Bank, and made investments spanning the aviation, tourism, real estate and financial services sectors as part of an acquisition…