Elliott has taken advantage of HNA Group’s liquidity squeeze to snap up a nearly 6 per cent stake in the Swiss duty-free retailer Dufry, with the hedge fund buying shares that the Chinese conglomerate has used in elaborate financing transactions.Elliott disclosed that it held 3m shares in Dufry in a filing at Six, the Swiss exchange, yesterday.
People familiar with the matter said that an investment bank had sold the shares as part of a complicated derivatives options trade for HNA Group.
HNA has relied heavily on debt and opaque financing techniques to fuel a global acquisition spree, buying about $40bn in assets worldwide in the past three years, including a 20.9 per cent stake in Dufry. The sprawling conglomerate’s liquidity situation has come under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks.