HNA Group Co, which in April agreed to buy a 51 percent stake in Rezidor Hotel Group AB, plans to turn the European lodging company into a “hotel chain on a global level,” according to Rezidor chief executive officer Wolfgang Neumann.
HNA may eventually try to combine Brussels-based Rezidor and Madrid-based NH Hotel Group SA, in which it owns a 30 percent stake, said Neumann. “The priority is to consolidate Carlson Rezidor and then we will study the possibility of integrating with NH,” he told Bloomberg.
HNA, the Chinese investor in airlines and tourism, is acquiring Minneapolis-based Carlson Hotels Inc. and its stake in Rezidor, which owns the Radisson and Park Inn brands.
HNA must make an offer to Rezidor’s shareholders for the remaining shares once the deal is completed, according to Swedish law. The deal is scheduled to close in the second half of the year, Carlson said in April.
“It’s a real opportunity,” Neumann said. “The operation with HNA will allow us to directly access the Chinese market.”
Global aspirations for Rezidor
