China's HNA Hospitality denies talks with AccorHotels

PARIS (Reuters) - Chinese conglomerate HNA Hospitality group said on Sunday it had not discussed buying shares in French hotel group AccorHotels and had no plans to hold such talks. HNA said it was issuing the statement in reaction to recent reports that AccorHotels was trying to combine its forces with those of HNA to thwart an attempt by another Chinese group Jin Jiang <600754.SS> to increase its stake in AccorHotels. "At this stage HNA Hospitaity Group did not discuss buying capital with the French group AccorHotels, nor expects to hold such discussions. Reports about it are false," the statement said. (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)