HNA in talks on buying GE container unit

NEW YORK - HNA Group Co, the airline and hotel operator controlled by China's Hainan province, is in exclusive talks to buy a shipping-container lessor co-owned by General Electric Co, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

HNA may reach a deal within a week if the lessor GE SeaCo opts to proceed with the sale, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are private. The price under discussion values GE SeaCo at more than $1 billion, or about $2.5 billion including debt, the person said.

"The fundamentals for container leasing are pretty good right now," said Art Hatfield, a Morgan Keegan & Co analyst in Memphis, Tennessee. "Despite the fact that there's too many ships out there, there's a fairly tight container market."