HNA Group Has So Many Companies It’s Running Out of Names

HNA Group Co.’s multibillion-dollar buying spree is testing the limits of the English language: the company is starting to run out of names for its businesses.

The conglomerate, which owns about 20 percent of Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd. and has been dogged by questions from regulators worldwide about the group’s ownership, told the Australian stock exchange this month there are 518 related entities associated with the airline stake.

Among them: HNA Tourism Group Co. on the 23rd floor of HNA Plaza in Haikou City, and an identically named separate company four floors down. In Chinese, the two names differ by ...