BEIJING: Chinese conglomerate HNA has bought a 3.04 per cent stake in Deutsche Bank, making it one of the embattled German lender’s biggest shareholders. Deutsche has had a tumultuous 18 months and was caught up in two dramatic sell-offs last year: in February 2016 as investors fretted over whether it would pay coupons on some of its riskiest securities, and in September amid concerns that it might, in extremis, need a bailout to help digest a big penalty from US authorities. The second panic drove the share price to near-30-year lows, but since hitting €9.90 in September, it has recovered sharply as Deutsche settled some of its big legal cases for less than feared and sentiment towards banks in general improved following the election of Donald Trump as US president. Deutsche’s shares closed down 1.7 per cent at €18.20 on Friday. HNA Capital, the conglomerate’s financial services arm, said that the Deutsche stake was part of its asset management growth strategy, adding: “Consistent with this strategy as well as our obligations under shareholding disclosure rules in Germany, we today disclosed a 3.04 per cent passive stake in Deutsche Bank. Any further inferences with respect to the nature of this investment or our future intentions are purely speculative.”
C-Quadrat, the asset manager through which HNA acquired and holds its stake in Deutsche, said that the conglomerate considered the bank a “very attractive investment” and wanted to “support the bank and its management as an anchor investor”. “We have full faith in the management and will watch its future steps very carefully, and support them where necessary as a shareholder,” he said, adding that the conglomerate did not rule out a “moderate” increase in its stake, but had no intention of going above 10 per cent. The deal makes HNA the fourth-biggest single investor in Deutsche. Two investment vehicles for members of the Qatari royal family own 6.10 per cent of the bank between them, while US investment group BlackRock owns 6.07 per cent, according to Deutsche’s website. It also adds another element to HNA’s diverse portfolio. The group owns Hainan Airlines, China’s fourth-largest carrier, and last year, in a flurry of dealmaking, unveiled transactions to buy Ingram Micro, a US information technology group, Carlson Hotels, the US owner of the Radisson brand, and a 13 per cent stake in the airline Virgin Australia.
