Chinese conglomerate HNA Group "is seeking to expand its global leisure empire through making new investments in golf," betting on continued Asian interest in the game despite "declining participation rates across the rest of the world," according to Murad Ahmed of the FINANCIAL TIMES. The company announced a five-year, $35M deal on Monday to sponsor the Open de France tournament, "one of the most prestigious events on golf’s European Tour." The move comes after the group bought eight golf courses in Washington state in the U.S. for $137.5M in October. HNA Group Vice-Chair Chen Wenli said, "The commitment we are making to the European Tour ... provides HNA Group with the opportunity to further promote golf’s growing popularity among Asian consumers and travelers." HNA said that it will "continue to pursue deals related to sports that have global reach." One person close to the company said that it had been approached to sponsor other sporting events, "and was looking closely at golf and tennis tournaments in particular." The conglomerate owns Hainan Airlines, China’s fourth-largest airline. Last year, it acquired Carlson Hotels, the U.S. owner of the Radisson brand; gained a 25% stake in Hilton for $6.5B and took a 13% stake in Australian airline Virgin Australia. HNA’s move into golf comes "despite declining participation rates" in the U.S., U.K. and other developed countries, which have persisted since the '08 financial crisis. Asia has "bucked the trend," with the number of golfers across China growing at about 7-8% a year, "roughly on a par with the country’s gross domestic product." HNA’s sponsorship of Open de France will fund a $7M annual prize (FT, 1/8).
