BERN: The Zurich-based airport luggage handler Swissport has been sold to the HNA Group, owner of China’s fourth-largest airline, for CHF2.73 billion ($2.8 billion).
PAI Partners, the owners of Swissport, concluded the deal with the Haikou-based group which owns the Chinese airline company Hainan airlines. The HNA Group joined the Fortune Global 500 List for the first time this month with an annual revenue of around $25.6 billion and assets worth almost $80 billion. PAI Partners had acquired Swissport in 2010 for $900 million.
Swissport is the world’s leading services company for airlines and airports providing cargo- and ground-handling services to 700 aviation clients. The firm employs more than 60,000 staff and is active in 260 locations in 45 countries. It generates an annual revenue of CHF3 billion. The company was founded in 1996 as a subsidiary of the former Swissair (now Swiss International Air Lines) and was then known as Swissair Ground Services International. It was sold in 2002 following the financial crisis at Swissair.
