At least seven lenders and 20 businesses have emerged as creditors of China’s cash-strapped HNA Group as bankruptcy looms, mainland Chinese media reported.

The HNA Group, operator of the Hainan Airlines, ran into trouble following a high-profile global acquisitions binge. It received a formal notice from the Hainan High People’s Court on Friday to initiate bankruptcy and restructuring procedures after creditors filed an application to start the proceedings.

Seven banks were on a list of main creditors compiled by mainland Chinese media. The Bank of Hainan and Chang’an Bank appeared the most number of times on the group’s public notices, the news reports noted. Goldstate Securities, China Huarong Asset Management and Ping An Bank were also named.

At least 11 of the HNA Group’s listed subsidiaries, including Hainan Airlines and the HNA Infrastructure Investment Group, all posted similar public posts on Friday announcing they were undergoing restructuring as their parent company could no longer pay off their debts.

Creditors for the subsidiaries were more diverse, ranging from trade firms to furniture companies.HNA Group leader Gu Gang reportedly penned a letter to his 100,000 employees, addressing them as his “family members,” a day before the Hainan-based conglomerate received the court petition to undergo bankruptcy restructuring.

In the widely circulated letter, Gu appealed for their patience and support in going through the process. He said that the company had been driven to the brink of death as the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated its problems.

He then admitted that even without the pandemic, the group would still have found it difficult to soldier on as it was already in dire straits. “The company cannot be reborn without putting it to death,” he intoned.

Gu lastly thanked his employees for their unwavering support and urged them to continue serving in their posts to help “the company fight this tough battle.”

He was appointed by the central Chinese government to take over the group last February after years of financial woes.

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