Anjani Trivedi & David Fickling, Columnists

R.I.P. HNA, and the $143 Billion Empire You Built

The Chinese government is planning to take over the airline-to-insurance-to-property conglomerate. It’s about time.

It was only a matter of time.

Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
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The house of HNA Group Co. may be no more, bringing an end to the dramatic rise and fall of one of the biggest buyers of global assets in recent years. It was about time.

The Chinese government is planning to take over the airline-to-insurance-to-property conglomerate that splashed out over $40 billion in recent years to buy assets including stakes in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG and airplane lessor Avolon Holdings Ltd., Bloomberg News reported citing people familiar with the plans. A government seizure would mark the final step in an unwinding of the closely held and debt-encumbered behemoth that began more than two years ago.