HNA Group subsidiary HNA eKing Technology has invested RMB38 million to acquire Guangzhou- based business intelligence service High Jet. This is eKing Technology’s first acquisition since listing on the New Third Board and part of its eight billion RMB internet plus investment plan.
HNA eKing Technology’s director Yanbing Yu said its eight billion RMB investment plan includes the Hainan international tourism island smart+ construction project, HNA Cloud data center construction project, Hainan Duty Free transnational ecommerce platform project and payment platform project.
“In the future eKing Technology will continue to acquire innovative IT technology projects to expand the company’s business model. Our goal is the become a global leader as a cloud computing and big data service provider，”Mr. Yu said.
HNA eKing Technology became the first HNA Group subsidiary to list on the New Third Board in December last year. Its annual revenues leapt from RMB62.55 million to RMB460 million while, an average growth rate of 65%, while its net profits grew from RMB7.69 million RMB49.07 million from 2011 to 2014. In 2015 eKing Technology achieved revenues of RMB249 million, up 86.04% y-o-y, and net profits of RMB33.8697 million, up 139.28% y-o-y.
“We will enter the era of Cloud computing and big data which will also be a time of revolutionary coverage. As a strategic agent for HNA Group’s online sector operations, eKing Technology offers big data intelligent services for the financial, logistical, communications and fast retail sectors,” Mr. Yu said.
Mr. Yu thinks HNA Group has its own advantages in the cloud computing and big data sectors compared with the position of China’s IT triumvirate Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent (BAT). “We only need a technological route for our internet plus strategy and HNA Group’s superior resources and capital are up to the task and enable us to build a new business model，” he said.
“HNA Group’s advantage is its in-depth knowledge of traditional industries that it pairs with its vast resources. This advantage cannot be compared with a purely online company just starting to integrate with traditional businesses,” Mr. Yu said.(Translation by David)
