OML Old Mutual

By Justin Baer 

A unit of HNA Group agreed to acquire a stake in U.S. investor OM Asset Management PLC, the latest deal in the Chinese conglomerate's ambitious global buying spree.

HNA Capital US plans to pay about $446 million in cash in two tranches, leaving the company with 24.9% of OM Asset Management, an arm of U.K. insurer Old Mutual PLC.

HNA Group, whose domestic interests range from hotel chains and supermarkets to Hainan Airlines, has turned to international markets for growth. The conglomerate struck a deal last year for Ingram Micro Inc., a U.S.-based computer-logistics company. In January, it agreed, along with RON Transatlantic EG, to buy a stake in hedge-fund investing firm SkyBridge Capital from founder Anthony Scaramucci, a surrogate for U.S. President Donald Trump who had exited the business to help secure a White House position. And just this week, HNA agreed to buy 245 Park Avenue, a 1.8 million-square-foot New York skyscraper, for $2.21 billion.

OM Asset Management oversees $240 billion in assets, and earned $126.4 million last year. The business will ultimately add two HNA-nominated directors to its board, Old Mutual said Saturday in a statement.

The deal will drop Old Mutual's stake in the money-management business to 25.9%. It also ends a yearlong mystery shrouding the business's future. Old Mutual unveiled plans in March 2016 to break up its four divisions by the end of 2018, and within weeks potential bidders for OM Asset Management emerged.

HNA will buy a 9.95% stake in OM Asset Management for $15.30 a share, then add another 15% through a second deal that pays Old Mutual $15.75 for each share of the U.S. unit, Old Mutual said.

The two purchases will still keep HNA just below the ownership threshold that would have required client approval, a person familiar with the deal said. News of the agreement was reported earlier by the Financial Times.

Write to Justin Baer at justin.baer@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 25, 2017 20:13 ET (00:13 GMT)

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