Chinese financial services conglomerate HNA has become the top shareholder in Germany’s biggest lender, Deutsche Bank. The group did not appear to seek a strategic role despite owning shares worth billions of dollars, DW reported. China’s HNA Group raised its stake in Deutsche Bank to nearly 10%, the Financial Times reported Wednesday, thus becoming the largest shareholder in the German lender. A filing made by asset manager C-Quadrat and other entities showed the Chinese had now acquired an aggregate 204.7 million shares. It took HNA’s stake to 9.92%, following an initial stake of 4.76%, which it had earlier secured through C-Quadrat. Reuters reported that China’s HNA had thus replaced Qatar’s Al-Thani family as Deutsche’s biggest shareholder as well as asset manager BlackRock with its 5.88% holding. The Times pointed to HNA’s humble beginnings as a regional airline back in 1989, adding that the firm had “transformed itself into a sprawling holding company” with stakes in hotels, banks, airlines and logistics companies. HNA is widely considered to be China’s most omnipresent overseas acquirer.
