HNA execs buy offshore dollar bonds amid credit crunch

HONG KONG, Feb 14 (Reuters): China's debt-laden HNA Group said some of its board directors and senior managers have bought offshore dollar bonds guaranteed by the conglomerate - the latest in a series of measures it is taking to shore up its finances.

HNA did not give the names of those buyers in the statement, nor the value of the dollar bonds purchased. It declined to provide any additional information when contacted by Reuters.

After announcing $50 billion of deals over two years, HNA was, like other Chinese conglomerates, hit by increased scrutiny of its finances as Beijing grew wary of what it saw as some irrational acquisitions.

HNA has since said it would sell some of its assets, and this week it announced a $2 billion deal for two Hong Kong land parcels. Sources have said it is in talks with creditors about its outstanding loans.

In its Wednesday statement, the group said it was in a "very healthy financial position" with total assets of 1.5 trillion yuan ($236 billion) at end-2017, and that the staff purchased the bonds due to "full confidence" in its business prospects.

In the last couple of years, HNA and its group units have issued a slew of bonds, both in China and overseas, to finance some of its acquisitions as well as to refinance some of its maturing debt obligations.

Hainan Airlines Holdings, the group's flagship firm, has bonds issued worth $4.8 billion, denominated in both Chinese yuan and US dollar, according to Thomson Reuters data.