Avolon, a subsidiary of HNA, agreed this week to buy the aircraft-leasing arm of US lender CIT Group, beating a large group of other bidders in the highly-competitive deal.
Executives at the Chinese company could be forgiven for patting themselves on the back for the deal. The price they paid was roughly in line with what analysts expected, and a capital return plan from CIT means shareholders are highly likely to approve the deal.
But the deal is only the latest in HNA’s debt-fuelled acquisition boom and some market observers are now worrying about HNA’s debt levels following the binge, said a...