Asian Consortium Led By RRJ Capital Looking To Invest $4B To Gain Controlling Stake In Ingram Micro: Reports

Ingram Micro may be sold to new investors as parent company HNA Group reportedly looks to unload assets and raise funds.

A group of investors led by Hong Kong-based RRJ Capital is looking to invest $4 billion into Ingram Micro as a way to get a controlling stake in the distributor from its parent company, China-based HNG Group, according to two major news outlet reports.

Reuters Monday reported that a consortium led by RRJ Capital is in the process of finalizing a $4 billion investment in Ingram Micro for a controlling stake, citing an unnamed source.

Bloomberg two days earlier reported that a group led by RRJ Capital was in advanced talks with HNA Group to lead a $4-billion investment in Ingram Micro, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.

[Related: CRN Exclusive: Ingram Micro CEO Monie On Distribution, Market Changes, And The Joy Of Being Private]

Ingram Micro, HNA, and RRJ spokespeople did not respond to a CRN request for more information by press time.

Ingram Micro in mid-2016 was acquired by China-based conglomerate Tianjin Tianhai Investment Company, a publicly-listed subsidiary of HNA Group, in a deal valued at about $6 billion.

Rumors have swirled for some time around the possibility that HNA Group is interested in selling all or part of its stake in Ingram Micro.

The Wall Street Journal in December reported that Apollo Global Management LLC was in discussions with HNA Group to purchase Ingram Micro for $7.5 billion.

Analyst firm Raymond Janes & Associates speculated in January 2018 that rival distributor Synnex was interested in purchasing Ingram Micro after trading in Tianjin Tianhai Investment Company was halted. However, Ingram Micro moved quickly to deny that the halt in trading was related to any plans to sell the distributor.

HNA Capital, which in the past few years made several major investments outside of China, including its acquisition of Ingram Micro, has recently been trying to sell some of those assets including a 20-percent stake in Virgin Australia. The company is looking to raise tens of billions of dollars to pay down debt from those investments, Forbes reported in April.

The company also faced a probe from the Shanghai Exchange over its finances, according to a June report in Mingtiandi, an Asian real estate intelligence research company. Forbes in June reported that Deloitte filed a lawsuit in Hong Kong against two HNA companies over unpaid work.

At the same time, however, HNA Capital is also looking to invest over $3 billion in an industrial fund to support multiple infrastructure, industrial, financial, and technology projects in China and Southeast Asia as part of China's Belt and Road Initiative, according to online news site Worldfinance.