HNA moves into the media

Chinese conglomerate HNA Group has added news media to its recent string of acquisitions by acquiring an 80 percent stake in a media company in Beijing that runs the website of Caijing Magazine, one of the most popular and influential Chinese business magazines.

HNA's business now spans aviation, finance, real estate, logistics, hospitality, tourism and ecological technology. And it is adding news media to its portfolio.

HNA did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. But an employee at Caijing Magazine who wished to remain anonymous confirmed the equity acquisition, and said that the editorial work of the magazine has stayed independent and was not affected.

According to Tianyancha, an enterprise data query system, the equity change occurred on Dec 12 and the actual amount of investment for the 80 percent stake is not available on the website.

HNA Capital, the financial unit under HNA, now holds an 80 percent stake in Beijing Lianban Caixun Cultural Media, and the media organization itself holds a 10.91 percent stake. The remainder is held by a State-owned media group under State Grid Corp of China.

Beijing Lianban also owns the operating rights of the website of Voyage, a travel magazine, and several other Chinese websites.

Li Xiaojin, a professor of aviation economics at the Civil Aviation University of China in Tianjin, said: "The media industry is expected to become an even more important sector with the development of big data. Many investors rely on the data and information provided by the media to make more accurate decisions.

"HNA is diversifying its business portfolio, and it seems natural for HNA to acquire a media group to gain more information," Li said.

This is one of the latest deals among a string of deals by HNA, which has made a succession of acquisitions of overseas assets to step up its global expansion. Those overseas acquisitions include the buying of key stakes in a German airport, Deutsche Bank, Sky Bridge Capital, Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc and others.

In recent years, Caijing has been struggling financially, like other traditional media. Hong Kong-listed SEEC Media Group Ltd, the company that owns the advertising rights of Caijing, suffered a loss of HK$200 million ($25.75 million) in 2015, tumbling 65.05 percent year-on-year.