China’s Anbang Insurance and Trump adviser Kushner end talks on NY tower as conflicts cited

China’s Anbang Insurance Group and a company owned by the family of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner have ended talks to redevelop a Manhattan office tower, a deal that had drawn scrutiny from lawmakers citing ethics concerns.

“Kushner Companies is no longer in discussions with Anbang about 666 Fifth Avenue’s potential redevelopment, and our firms have mutually agreed to end talks regarding the property,” according to a statement emailed by a Kushner spokesman, who declined to comment further. “Kushner Companies remains in active, advanced negotiations around 666 Fifth Avenue with a number of potential investors.”

A spokesman for Anbang declined to comment. The news was reported earlier by the New York Post.

Anbang had discussed investing more than US$400 million as part of a US$4 billion transaction with Kushner Companies that may have included terms that some real estate experts considered unusually favourable for the Kushners, Bloomberg reported earlier this month. Anbang had said “there is no investment” in the building a day after Bloomberg’s report, while not disputing the details of the financing proposal.

The property, co-owned by Kushner Companies, has been losing money for three years and faces increasing loan fees this year, which may explain why the Kushner family was negotiating with Anbang on new financing. The proposed deal would have refinanced the debt, while forgiving the majority of a second tier of loans known as a “hope note,” where much of the interest on the debt has accrued, according to the refinancing agreement.