Wang Jian, the co-founder and chairman of Chinese conglomerate HNA Group, has died in an accidental fall in the village of Bonnieux, southern France.
Jian, the second-highest ranking executive at HNA, owned about 15 percent of the Chinese conglomerate, making him one of the group’s largest shareholders. He was one of the founders of HNA, which started out as a regional airline more than 20 years ago and grew into a Fortune 500 company.
Co-chairman Chen Feng would absorb the duties of Jian. Feng also holds a 15 percent stake in the firm. HNA said on Friday that the transfer of the group shares held by Wang will be “addressed in due course, consistent with his pledge to donate them to charity, and in accordance with all applicable legal and regulatory guidelines.”
Adam Tan will continue as chief executive.
The company has been actively offloading assets, selling holdings in Hilton, Park Hotels & Resorts and Spain’s NH Hotels to help reduce its domestic debt and received pressures as authorities in China aim to restrict aggressive overseas dealmaking.
The firm is currently exploring the sale of Radisson Hotel Group, according to Bloomberg. HNA Group acquired Radisson in 2016. It also owns a controlling stake in Radisson Hospitality AB, the Brussels-based operator of hotels in Europe, the Middle East and Africa with a market value of about $541 million.
And SL Green Realty Corp. purchased the stake in the office building at 245 Park Avenue from HNA Group Co., according to The Wall Street Journal. HNA bought the 1.8 million-square-foot tower last year for $2.21 billion.
In another sale, Mapletree Logistics Trust acquiring five logistics properties in Singapore for about S$778.3 million ($573 million).
A subsidiary of HNA Group, Hong Kong International Construction Investment Management Group, said it expected to return at least HK$800 million ($102 million) to shareholders after selling assets including land at a residential property site in Hong Kong. The group and its Hong Kong–listed property unit bought four sites at Kai Tak between November 2016 and March 2017, but sold three of them to Hong Kong developers Henderson Land and Wheelock & Co. this year. Sales of the three plots for a combined HK$21.53 billion ($2.74 billion) earned HNA a net gain of HK$2.54 billion ($320 million).
