HNA Is Said to Schedule Long-Awaited Vote on $1 Billion CWT Deal

(Bloomberg) -- HNA Group Co. has set a date for a long-awaited shareholder vote on its proposed $1 billion takeover of Singapore logistics operator CWT Ltd., people with knowledge of the matter said, in a sign that the beleaguered Chinese conglomerate is moving ahead with the deal.

The Hong Kong-listed unit pursuing the purchase, HNA Holding Group Co., has scheduled an extraordinary general meeting for Sept. 6, according to the people. It plans to announce the date of the extraordinary general meeting to the stock exchange soon, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information.

CWT shares closed Friday at an 8.6 percent discount to the HNA offer, a sign some investors see risks that the takeover won’t be completed as the Chinese government ramps up scrutiny of serial dealmakers. Banks working on financing the acquisition have been seeking more information from HNA and started scrutinizing its debt levels more closely, people with knowledge of the matter said in July.

HNA Holding announced last month that it expects to hold a shareholder vote on the deal between the end of August and early September. All the pre-conditions of the acquisition must be fulfilled or waived by Sept. 9 for it to proceed. A representative for CWT declined to comment, while a representative for HNA Group didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Chinese regulators have been assessing the risks that HNA Group and other acquisitive companies pose to the country’s financial system. HNA Group has announced more than $40 billion of purchases since the beginning of 2016, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. 

--With assistance from Moxy Ying and Prudence Ho

To contact the reporters on this story: Elffie Chew in Kuala Lumpur at echew16@bloomberg.net, Vinicy Chan in Hong Kong at vchan91@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Scent at bscent@bloomberg.net, Timothy Sifert