China's HNA in talks to sell Ingram Micro to Apollo Global - WSJ

(Reuters) - Chinese conglomerate HNA Group Co is in talks to sell electronics distributor Ingram Micro Inc to private equity firm Apollo Global Management Llc , the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

HNA hopes to sell Ingram for $7.5 billion, including $1.5 billion in debt, the report said, adding that it is currently in talks with Apollo after rebuffing an earlier offer that it considered too low.

Apollo declined to comment and Ingram was not immediately available for comment. HNA was not available for comment outside normal business hours in China.

Earlier this month, Reuters reported that China Development Bank was leading a team to supervise HNA's asset disposals as the heavily indebted conglomerate unwinds a $50 billion acquisition spree and scales back to a point that will leave it holding only core assets.

 

Bad debt managers China Cinda Asset Management Co <1359.HK> advised HNA and has been involved in talks with potential buyers for Ingram, which HNA bought for $6 billion in 2016, Reuters reported in November.

HNA Technology Co <600751.SS>, which owns Ingram, said in September it had $3.55 billion of debt outstanding from the purchase of the firm, of which $350 million was due this year.

(Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)