HNA publishes the definitive notice of the interim result and declares the offer successful

HNA Group Co., Ltd.

gategroup Holding AG

HNA publishes the definitive notice of the interim result and declares the offer successful

• HNA waives minimum acceptance level and declares tender offer successful
  
• Additional acceptance period to run from 8 July 2016 until 21 July 2016
  
• Settlement of offer expected at end of 3rd quarter/beginning of 4th quarter 2016
  
• Second trading line open until a few days prior to the settlement of the offer

HAIKOU, People's Republic of China and ZURICH, Switzerland, July 7, 2016 -

On 20 May 2016, HNA Aviation (Hong Kong) Air Catering Holding Co., Ltd., Hong Kong ("Offeror"), a subsidiary of HNA Group Co., Ltd.("HNA"), published the offer prospectus on the public tender offer for all publicly held shares of gategroup Holding AG ("gategroup Shares").

Up to the expiration of the initial acceptance period on 1 July 2016, 4.00 p.m. CEST, a total of 16,414,959 gategroup Shares have been tendered into the offer, corresponding to 61,76% of the 26,576,558 gategroup Shares that are object of the offer as of 1 July 2016 (success rate). Taking into account the 620,641 gategroup Shares held by gategroup, the participation of the Offeror and the persons acting in concert with the Offeror amounts as of 1 July 2016 to 63,60% of the voting rights and of the share capital of gategroup (participation rate).

HNA is pleased about this interim result and remains confident that more shareholders of gategroup will recognize the benefits of accepting the offer and therefore tender their shares into the offer during the additional acceptance period.

As a consequence, HNA has decided to and hereby announces that the offer condition regarding the minimum acceptance level of 67% of all listed gategroup Shares (offer condition (a) according to chapter A.7.1 of the offer prospectus) is waived.

Subject to the satisfaction of the offer conditions (b), (d), (e), (f), (g) and (h) according to chapter A.7.1 of the offer prospectus, the Offeror declares the offer successful.

Subsequently, the additional acceptance period of 10 trading days for the subsequent acceptance of the offer will start on 8 July 2016 and prospectively run until 21 July 2016, 4:00 p.m. CEST.

In addition, it is expected that the settlement of the offer, subject to the satisfaction of all relevant conditions to the offer (or a waiver of their fulfillment), will be postponed in accordance with chapter A.7 of the offer prospectus. Based on the current understanding of the regulatory approval proceedings in different jurisdictions, the settlement of the offer is expected to occur towards the end of the 3rd quarter/beginning of the 4th quarter 2016.

In accordance with the press release published by the Offeror and gategroup on 27 June 2016, the separate second trading line for gategroup Shares tendered into the offer will be kept open beyond the end of the additional acceptance period until shortly before the settlement of the offer. gategroup Shares tendered into the offer can therefore be traded respectively sold and acquired on the second trading line until a few days prior to the settlement of the offer.

For the definitive notice of the interim result published on 7 July 2016 and further information related to the public offer by HNA please refer to

http://www.hnagroup.com/en/discl/HNA_Website/legal.html and
http://www.gategroup.com/investors/hna-to-acquire-gategroup

Contact
Dagmara Robinson
Corporate Communication and Investor Relations
invest@​gategroup.​com
[phone]

About HNA

HNA, a Fortune 500 Company and a leader in aviation and tourism, was founded in 1993. Over the past two decades, it has grown from a local aviation transportation operator into a multinational conglomerate encompassing aviation, airport management, financial services, real estate, retail, tourism, and logistics. In 2015, HNA had revenues of RMB190 billion (CHF28.5 billion), total assets of RMB600 billion (CHF90 billion) and employed more than 180,000 employees worldwide. As of December 2015, HNA has a fleet of over 820 aircrafts, serves nearly 700 domestic and international routes, flies to over 200 cities, and has served 77.4 million passengers annually. It operates and manages, among others, Hainan Airlines, Tianjin Airlines, Deer Jet, Lucky Air, Capital Airlines, West Air, Fuzhou Airlines, Urumqi Air, Beibu Gulf Airlines, Yangtze River Airlines, Guilin Airlines, My CARGO, Africa World Airlines, and Aigle Azur. For further information:www.hnagroup.com/en/

About gategroup

gategroup is the leading independent global provider of products, services and solutions relating to a passenger's onboard experience. It specializes in catering and hospitality; provisioning and logistics; and onboard products and services to companies that serve people on the move. In 2015, gategroup achieved a total revenue of CHF3.0 billion and an adjusted EBITDA of CHF169.4 million. The company currently employs more than 28,000 people worldwide. For further information: www.gategroup.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This publication contains forward-looking statements and other statements that are not historical facts. The words "believe", "anticipate", "plan", "expect", "project", "estimate", "predict", "intend", "target", "assume", "may", "will" "could" and similar expression are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Such statements are made on the basis of assumptions and expectations that we believe to be reasonable as of the date of this publication but may prove to be erroneous and are subject to a variety of significant uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements. Among these factors are changes in overall economic conditions, changes in demand for our products, changes in the demand for, or price of, oil, risk of terrorism, war, geopolitical or other exogenous shocks to the airline sector, risks of increased competition, manufacturing and product development risks, loss of key customers, changes in government regulations, foreign and domestic political and legislative risks, risks associated with foreign operations and foreign currency exchange rates and controls, strikes, embargoes, weather-related risks and other risks and uncertainties. We therefore caution investors and prospective investors against relying on any of these forward-looking statements. We assume no obligation to update forward-looking statements or to update the reasons for which actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

Note: In the event of any discrepancy or inconsistency between any translated versions of this publication, the English version shall prevail.

Press release (PDF)

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