HNA offers $340m for controlling share in Tysan

Candidates wait for interviews conducted by HNA Group for flight attendants in Beijing.[Provided to China Daily]

HNA Group Co has agreed to buy a controlling stake in Hong Kong-based construction and real estate company Tysan Holdings Ltd for HK$2.62 billion ($340 million).

The owner of Hainan Airlines and travel, logistics and aviation maintenance businesses, has proposed HK$4.53 per share to Tides Holdings II for a 66 percent holding, according to a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Monday.

The purchase price is an 11 percent premium on the stock's last-traded price.

HNA is already the biggest shareholder in Spanish hotelier NH Hotel Group SA, and last year agreed to buy a stake in Brazilian airline Azul Linhas Aereas Brasileiras SA and acquired airport luggage handler Swissport International Ltd from PAI Partners SAS for about $2.7 billion.

HNA was also said to be one of the bidders for London City Airport this year, before losing out to a consortium led by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board.

The Tysan transaction is subject to a "definitive sale and purchase agreement and other terms and conditions" described in the filing and there is no certainty the deal will proceed, the Tysan said.

Tides Holdings II announced on March 9 it was in talks with an independent third-party regarding a sale.