by BLOOMBERG

FRANKFURT • Deutsche Bank AG’s largest investor, China’s cash-strapped conglomerate HNA Group Co Ltd, reduced its stake in the German lender slightly while pledging to remain a “significant” holder as it reorganises the financing of the stake.

HNA held 9.2% of voting rights in Deutsche Bank, according to a regulatory filing last Friday, down from 9.9% previously. HNA holds about 4.3% of shares, with the remainder tied to a right to recall shares that have been loaned, the filing showed.

“HNA will continue to be a significant investor in Deutsche Bank,” a spokesman for C-Quadrat Asset Management, which oversees the investment for HNA, said in a statement. “It is possible that voting right thresholds will be temporarily crossed”

as HNA works on a “longterm oriented financing structure” for the stake.

HNA is under mounting financial pressure after it spent billions of dollars on a debt-fuelled acquisition spree that included the stake in Deutsche Bank. The Chinese group is seeking to sell real estate in the US valued at about US$4 billion (RM15.76 billion) as it seeks to cut its pile of debt, according to marketing documents seen by Bloomberg.

HNA had financed and hedged its Deutsche Bank stake through a series of transactions with UBS Group AG. The first of these hedges, known as collar options, were due to be triggered starting this week if Deutsche Bank’s share price remains below €15 (RM72.45), according to prior filings. — Bloomberg