海航与香港开发商展开融资谈判

Cash-rich Hong Kong developers, distressed debt and private credit funds are lining up to offer financing to HNA, the indebted Chinese conglomerate, as it seeks to raise cash, bankers and property investors say.

银行家和房地产投资者表示，现金充裕的香港开发商、不良债权投资基金和私人信贷基金正排队向负债累累的中国综合企业集团海航(HNA)提供融资。

In recent weeks HNA has entered talks with several developers led by Sun Hung Kai Properties and a number of other investors to secure $1.5bn to $2bn in loans that would be collateralised by its land holdings at the site of Hong Kong’s former airport, Kai Tak, which is being remodelled as a luxury residential property development.

最近几周里，海航已开始与由新鸿基地产(Sun Hung Kai Properties)领头的几家开发商和其他一些投资者展开了谈判，希望以其在香港前启德机场(Kai Tak)地块所持的地皮作为抵押，拿到15亿至20亿美元的贷款。启德地块正被改造成一个豪华住宅房地产开发项目。

HNA hopes to be able to borrow cheaply due to the high value of the Kai Tak site and is seeking an interest rate as low as 8 per cent, far below what would be considered a market level, the people added. If HNA were to default, any lender would then be in a position to develop the property itself.

上述人士补充称，海航希望依仗启德地块的高价值借到低成本资金，正在寻求远低于市场水平的低至8%的借款利率。如果海航违约，那么任何贷款方都可以自行开发这个房地产项目。

“There have been very preliminary initial discussions,” a Sun Hung Kai spokesman said. “Nothing has transpired yet.”

“迄今进行了非常初步的讨论，”一名新鸿基发言人表示说，“什么都还没有发生。”

The loans would most likely be used to refinance HNA’s debt falling due in coming months, people familiar with the matter said.

知情人士说，这些贷款很可能被用来为未来几个月到期的海航债务再融资。

Sun Hung Kai would not put up the entire amount and is seeking to work with a bank on any potential transaction, said one person familiar with the matter.

一名知情人士表示，新鸿基不会拿出全部金额，正寻求与一家银行就潜在交易达成合作。

HNA started as a regional airlines operator in the 1990s with an investment from billionaire fund manager George Soros. But in the past three years it has been on a global buying spree worth $40bn, taking large stakes in Deutsche Bank and Hilton Worldwide, financed largely with debt.

在1990年代，海航依靠亿万富翁基金经理乔治?索罗斯(George Soros)的一笔投资，以一家地区性航空公司起步。但过去3年里，该集团在全球大举收购，交易金额达400亿美元（在很大程度上靠债务融资），包括买入德意志银行(Deutsche Bank)和希尔顿全球(Hilton Worldwide)的大量股份。

A unit of HNA spent almost $3.5bn to acquire the land at the end of 2016, paying HK$13,000 ($1,700) per sq ft. At the time, most Hong Kong developers said privately that HNA was overpaying by at least 30 to 40 per cent. But since then the market has rallied and units being pre-sold in adjacent locations are fetching between HK$20,000 and HK$23,000 per sq ft.

2016年末，海航旗下一家企业斥资近35亿美元买下了上述地块，相当于每平方英尺1.3万港元（合1700美元）。当时大多数香港开发商私下表示，海航支付的价格至少偏高30%至40%。但自那以来，市场上涨了，如今相邻地段住宅单位的预售价格为每平方英尺2万港元至2.3万港元。

HNA itself is suffering a severe cash crunch at a time when there is little distress in Asia generally amid low interest rates, lowering the burden of debt for most companies.

海航本身正面临着严峻的现金紧缺。目前亚洲企业总体上不存在什么困难，因为低利率减轻了大多数公司的债务负担。

As a result, “every distressed investor in Asia has seen one version of this structure or another”, according to one potential investor. “Any deal could come imminently. The biggest question is whether HNA gets cleaned up and bailed out or whether there is a reputational risk in helping HNA.”

其结果是，一位潜在投资者表示，“亚洲的每一家不良债权投资者都看到了这种或那种结构的某个版本……交易可能马上就会达成。最大的问题是，海航是否会受到清理和救助，或者帮助海航是否带有声誉风险。”

HNA and its subsidiaries have issued about $20bn in US dollar-denominated bonds due to mature this year or next. The yields on three bonds issued by HNA’s main Hong Kong subsidiary have spiked in January.

海航及其子公司已发行了约200亿美元的美元计价债券，这些债券将于今年或明年到期。今年1月，海航主要香港子公司所发行三种债券的收益率大幅升高。

Elsewhere, HNA has displayed a need for quick cash. One of its US units late on Tuesday said in a regulatory filing that it had sold its 12 per cent stake in US-listed shipping group Dorian LPG.

在其他地方，海航也表现出快速获得现金的需求。周二晚些时候，海航一家美国子公司在一份监管申报文件中称，它已出售了在美国上市航运集团Dorian LPG所持的12%股份。

The sale represents a loss for the company. HNA Investment Management began building a stake in Dorian in mid-2015 and continued until early the following year, spending more than $80m. Since then, the company’s share price has more than halved, creating a loss of more than $35m, according to a review of regulatory filings.

这笔出售对该公司来说是亏损的。海航投资管理(HNA Investment Management)从2015年年中至2016年初分批买入Dorian股份，总共投入超过8000万美元。监管文件显示，从那时起，该公司的股价下跌超过一半，造成了逾3500万美元的亏损。

Many of the assets HNA has acquired over the past three years have already been used as collateral in order to continue its buying spree.

为了继续其收购狂潮，过去三年海航收购的很多资产都已经被作为抵押品。

HNA did not respond to a request for comment on any potential loan deal.

海航没有回应记者提出的就潜在贷款交易置评的请求。