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Global Eagle Entertainment Investment Deal Collapses

Los Angeles-based Global Eagle Entertainment, a developer of in-flight entertainment products and provider of broadband Internet services, has called off a $416M majority investment deal from Chinese company HNA Group, after the U.S. refused to approve the transaction. The two companies failed to gain approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). The two said that, despite the failure to approve the investment, that Global Eagle Entertainment will continue to provide inflight-entertainment-and-connectivity (IFEC) equipment and services to Hainan Airlines, Beijing Capital Airlines and Yangtze River Airlines, which are all related to HNA Group. The falure to gain CFIUS approval is the second major investment/acquisition deal to fall through in Southern California in the last few months due to failure to gain CFIUS approval; San Diego-based telematics and fleet management products provider Inseego recently aborted its sale of its MiFi business to Chinese company TCL Industries Holdings in June, also due to CFIUS issues.