China's HNA Group To Buy 25% Stake In Hilton

I remember HNA actually stands for HaiNan Airlines. It was founded as Hainan airlines back in 1993.

All good till they don't like something about their deal or dividends and start suing Blacksone and Hilton
No worries though Hilton simply raises standard rooms to 500k per night without any advance notice and the legal fees are covered

no worries, there will never be negative changes in the industry of airlines and hotels, only the various kinds of enhancements, by now we are all very accustomed to.

for this exact reason, i was immensely grateful Marriott fought hard in their bidding war to keep Starwood out of the hands of the mainlanders. Those SPG Plats had so much hatred of Marriott that they were willing to back the completely unknown entity (Anbang) with fantasies that SPG elite program would've been completely left untouched even post-merger, and more ironic since most of those online commenters don't even know how to pronounce "Anbang" correctly in Chinese.

HNA is much smarter with their hospitality investments than they have traditionally been with their airline investments. Adam Tan is an extremely sharp executive that I've worked with personally in the past and comments about "mainland mentality" are totally off the mark. HNA still has a long way to go, but they are making steady progress towards their goal of being a respected international conglomerate.

What if they cut the rich bounty of perks that Hilton offers its top elites?

Oh wait...

More cash in Hilton's pocket for them to invest and grow even faster.

Hopefully, HNA and HH will strike a deal for HU to fly HH elites to Hainan, where Hilton has some terrific resorts, like Hilton Sanya Resort & Spa in Yalong Bay, Hainan, where I spent 4 nights during my 2012 Year-end Asian Escapade(tm). There are also couple of DoubleTrees and two more hotels more inland for a total of 5 on the tiny Island. I would not be surprised if Hilton has simply been managed those properties for HNA Group.

Hainan has been dubbed "China's answer to Hawaii" -- coincidentally, they are almost exactly the same latitude!

Having lived and worked in China for 15+ years, I am skeptical. Hainan has a well-deserved reputation of being a nest of corrupt vipers. HNA and Hainan Airlines do not have exactly stellar reputations for financial acumen or transparency. My hunch is that Blackstone is ok with this as they realize the best days of the US hotel market are closing fast. I also have little doubt that the Chinese government made it very plain to Blackstone and Hilton that Hilton's expansion and continued presence in China would 'more secure' if they allow HNA and Anbang to launder some of their ill-gotten gains by investing in US shares and real estate. The fun will start when HNA demands rock bottom prices for their US-bound tour groups and the property owners on which Hilton is massively reliant balk. vanishingly few foreigners have ever made any real money selling to average Chinese people and China no doubt intends to keep it that way. My hunch is that sooner rather than later as China reckons with its banking and overbuilding crises, HNA will unload their shares - at a considerable loss. We say this movie in the 1980's when Japanese companies gorged on over-priced US assets until the Japanese economy imploded. Watch for the same with China with attendant political turmoil as well.