HNA Holding to rebrand as CWT International following Singaporean acquisition

HNA Holding Group, a unit of mainland conglomerate HNA Group, will adopt the name of the Singaporean logistics and commodities company CWT Group that it acquired earlier this month in a US$1 billion takeover, rebranding as CWT International.

Hong Kong-listed HNA Holding has a 98.1 per cent stake in CWT following the acquisition, HNA executive director Xu Haohao said in an exchange filing Sunday night.

CWT’s commodity marketing, financial services and logistics operations would also become the group’s core businesses, he said.

“The board considers that the proposed change of company name will better reflect

and align with the business and development strategy of the group. Accordingly, the board

considers that the proposed change of company name is in the best interest of the company

and the shareholders as a whole,” Xu said in the filing.

The name change is pending shareholders’ approval.

Shares of HNA Holding Group soared 26 per cent in a single day in late October after state media praised the conglomerate’s acquisition of CWT as one of the top deals in the mainland’s Belt and Road initiative global trade strategy.

HNA’s acquisition of CWT was hailed in October by Xinhua as a “small but beautiful” deal.

Also in October, the Ministry of Commerce gave the green light for HNA Innovation Finance Group, a unit of HNA Group’s financial services, to purchase assets from Switzerland-based Glencore International, a commodities producer and trader.

Earlier this year, Glencore agreed to sell a 51 per cent stake in its petroleum product reserves and logistics business to HNA Innovation for more than US$770 million.