Major Chinese tourism group HNA has agreed a strategic partnership with online travel company Tuniu, and will invest US$500 million in the firm.
HNA Tourism Group will pay a 5% premium on Tunui’s current trading price and will hold approximately 24% of Tuniu’s outstanding shares to become its largest shareholder.
"We welcome HNA Tourism as our strategic shareholder and are excited about the potential presented by this strategic business cooperation. HNA Tourism is a leading tourism company in China with a rich collection of travel-related resources throughout the supply chain," said Donald Yu, Tuniu’s co-founder and CEO.
"As Tuniu continues to increase its direct procurement, HNA Tourism’s airlines resources will significantly enhance our ability to connect our network of departure cities to our constantly growing portfolio of destination offerings."
HNA Group has numerous aviation interests including Hainan Airlines, Tianjin Airlines and Capital Airlines.
It also owns and manages over 400 hotels and operates several airports in China.
Zhang Ling, chairman of HNA Tourism said: "We are also very excited about the formation of a stronger strategic alliance with Tuniu through this opportunity. Tuniu is a leading online leisure travel company in China with a broad customer base and well-established brand."
Under the terms of the strategic partnership, HNA will provide Tuniu access to its portfolio of hotel resources and airline products at a preferential rate to the value of at least US$100 million over the next two years.
