Tora-Neko

Chinese wealthy set up family offices wannabes

Mon, 26 Jun 2017 12:16:53 +0800

One current infestation of Hong Kong’s financial landscape is the rapid proliferation of family offices that are actually ill suited for investment management.

The family office concept for mainland Chinese looks like a sophistical exercise by both the clients and private bankers. The whole concept is completely misunderstood or mismanaged by Chinese clients.

Yet, it has been embraced by venal nouveau riche who want to placate their egos by creating an illusion of sophistication.

And bankers are willing to offer their services around the aspiration. It is a form of financial-cultural appropriation from Europe and North American family office organisations that doesn’t suit the way many Chinese families think of an investment enterprise.

The Global Family Office Report 2016 by Campden and UBS surveyed 242 family offices globally with average size of US$759 million in assets under management.

Family office investment returns have suffered. The data showed an alarming trend: “After returning 8.5 per cent in 2013 and 6.1 per cent in 2014, the composite global portfolio of family offices returned a disappointing 0.3 per cent in 2015.”

In comparison, the report said, “Endowments on average returned a more modest 2.4 per cent in 2015.” While the data ends in 2015, the three-year trend for family office returns has been unimpressive.

“There has been an overall (worldwide) increase in the percentage of family offices that are pursuing a growth strategy from 29 per cent to 36 per cent. However, strategic asset allocations reveal a high degree of regional variation,” the report said.

Zero to low rates have forced family offices to take greater risks.

Experienced family offices in North America and Europe are playing to their strengths by allocating longer term and accepting more illiquidity. Private equity and venture capital investments have become even more central to family offices over the past few years and now represent close to a quarter of the average overall portfolio. This approach is only successful when experienced in-house teams have sufficient ability for conducting due diligence and managing existing private market investments.

Hedge fund managers have suffered as the average family office reduced its holdings from 9 per cent to 8.1 per cent last year due to concerns about performance and fees.

But, there is a big difference between the family offices in Europe and the US versus China. Much of Chinese wealth is in its first or second generation, so the families still aggressively seek greater returns instead of wealth preservation.

The relatively new Chinese family offices pose a greater investment hazard to themselves than they realise. For many, their initial goal was to create a vehicle for millions or billions of dollars being moved to Hong Kong.

Nowadays, the stringent know-your-client and anti-money laundering rules being enforced by all banks are better met if the client sets ups an office in a business district to create a facade of credibility and access banking services when moving a large amount of cash from China.

“Investment is most intelligent when it is most businesslike,” according to the stock market guru Ben Graham.

However, many family offices aren’t adequately staffed with experienced and independent investment professionals.

Family offices are most useful if they are able to fulfil special family needs that cannot be served elsewhere, but most of all, only if you think you can beat the market.

Active investing is a zero sum game that requires a level of institutional discipline that is sometimes hard to replicate in a traditional Chinese family setting.

Usually when I meet them, I encounter a preponderance of family members or loyalists from the family’s main business. The patriarch or matriarch dominates meetings; the employees sit around the boardroom passively and obediently waiting for instructions. It makes for an uncreative investment environment where contrarian ideas and decisive risk management are rarely welcome.

Appointing sons and daughters, especially if they are inexperienced, is a recipe for disaster. Just because they have several years of experience in investment banking or structured finance, does not necessarily qualify them to be superior long term investors - especially in labour intensive practices like private equity or venture capital. Being unwilling to pay for qualified professionals to source and process deals is a short-sighted way to save money.

The result is flawed investment thinking, sloppy analysis, domestic bias and concentration of risk in assets like Hong Kong real estate, mistaking it for diversification from China real estate.

In a highly competitive high net worth, wealth management market, private banks in Hong Kong are more than happy to accommodate families who want to masquerade as a family office.

Most clients are better off remaining private banking clients rather than establishing a dedicated investment manager.

Peter Guy is a financial writer and former international banker.

Vietnam ’s retail pharmacy market garners increasing attention from investors

Mon, 26 Jun 2017 00:20:20 +0800

The retail pharmacy market has garnered increasing attention from investors of late, not all of them experienced in the field.

In the late afternoon on a blazing hot summer day in Ho Chi Minh City’s Binh Thanh district, Mr. Nguyen Tien Huy, a Grab Taxi driver, felt dizzy and had a headache so he dropped into a pharmacy to buy some medicine. Like everyone else in Vietnam, he simply described his symptoms to the staff and bought medicine that in most Western countries would require a prescription.

The easy of purchasing medicine and its 90 million-strong population make Vietnam attractive to local as well as foreign pharmaceutical investors. A recent report entitled “Vietnam Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare” from researchers Business Monitor International (BMI) found that Vietnam’s pharmaceutical market has consistently recorded double-digit growth over the last few years, regardless of economic circumstances.

Apple of their eye

Giant mobile retailer the Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG) recently revealed a plan to penetrate into the local pharmacy business, with Mr. Nguyen Duc Tai, Chairman of MWG, telling the company’s annual general meeting in April that it would open a pharmacy chain. A representative from MWG told VET that the company will seek a small partner, which already possesses locations and expertise in the market but which has been incapable of expanding, and conduct a merger and acquisition (M&A) deal, rather than taking two or three years to research and thoroughly understand the pharmacy business. MWG is especially interested in a pharmacy chain with about ten to 15 outlets. Initially, it would buy 20-40 per cent then increase its ownership to 60 per cent, and is willing to part with $22 million.

Another major retailer in Vietnam’s electronics sector, Digiworld (DGW), also recently announced a new strategy of entering into the lucrative healthcare product retail market in June, starting with functional food distribution. Mr. Doan Hong Viet, Chairman of DGW, told VET that under the plan the company would spend around $2 million on human resources and sales outlets along with warehousing.

Moreover, DGW has targeted the new business category earning a profit by 2018 and contributing to the company’s revenue by some $4 million this year alone. The new product category would be delivered via a pharmacy chain. Regardless of size, any new player in this market will face certain challenges. One of those, Mr. Viet said, is that the company can’t take advantage of its 6,000 retail electronic outlets and would have to establish a separate sales network for its healthcare product distribution. Furthermore, while DGW’s total estimated revenue in 2017 may increase by nearly $4 million from the new business expansion, after-tax profit would fall to around $2.5 million from the $3.3 million previously targeted. Though not participating in pharmaceutical distribution at hospitals, DGW will still have to establish relationships with authorities and experts in the local healthcare sector.

Joining MWG and DGW, the leading company in Vietnam’s information and communications technology industry, the FPT Group, is also considering entering into the field. Ms. Nguyen Bach Diep, CEO of FPT Retail, told local media it was thinking about investing in a pharmacy retail network given the digital equipment retail market, its traditional line of business, has become saturated. She added that the investment, if conducted, will be done after proper analysis and it would seek partners to share the associated risks.

Fertile land

According to the BMI report, Vietnam’s pharmaceuticals and healthcare sector recorded revenue of $4.7 billion in 2016, for growth of 10.2 per cent against 2015. Retail turnover accounted for about one-third, or $1.56 billion. A US IT services company in the healthcare industry, IMS Health, has forecast that the use of medicine in Vietnam will see revenue rise to $10 billion by 2020. Its estimate is based on Vietnamese people’s spending on pharmaceutical and healthcare products remaining quite low at this point in time, at only $41 per capita annually, compared to $54 in Malaysia, $64 in Thailand, and $138 in Singapore.

BMI anticipates Vietnam’s pharmaceutical consumption will reach $7.27 billion by 2019, representing average annual growth of 13.4 per cent. Figures from global market researcher Frost & Sullivan and the World Bank show that total spending on healthcare services in Vietnam was $13 billion in 2015 and is estimated at $24 billion by 2020. Other factors, including its young population, increasing middle class, and rising average per capita income are all good news for Vietnam’s pharmaceutical and healthcare sector in general and pharmaceutical retailers in particular.

According to the Vietnam Association of Functional Foods (VAFF), the domestic market had only 60 dietary supplement products in 2000 but by 2015 had 6,800. Herbal and traditional products account for up to 70 per cent. Such promising figures have attracted nearly 4,000 companies to do business in vitamins and dietary supplements. As Mr. Viet from DGW commented, the healthcare product category has been highly fragmented, with a lot of good quality products, but companies don’t know how to promote them in the market. “Many manufacturers don’t have the resources to build their own distribution systems, and this is a good opportunity for DGW as well as other investors,” he said.

DGW, despite being a novice in the pharmacy sector, has bravely set a target of having 20,000 points of sale in just three years. Mr. Viet added, however, that it will act cautiously, and after gaining a certain level of success in one category will develop another.

It also expects to push up M&A activities in order to join the local healthcare product distribution sector more quickly, just as MWG plans to do. After M&As, MWG projects a pharmacy store chain of up to 500-800 outlets. It’s highly possible that MWG or DGW may shake hands with existing retail systems, for example Phano Pharmacy or Pharmacity, which have experience but face difficulties in expanding and securing favorable locations.

Traditional model vs. modern chains

Recognizing the potential of the sector, the Vietnam-based fund management and private equity firm Saigon Asset Management (SAM) became a strategic partner of My Chau Investment Corporation, the owner of the My Chau pharmacy chain, last year, securing a 15 per cent stake. A year after the investment, Mr. Louis Nguyen, Chairman and CEO of SAM, told VET that the chain remains a work in progress. “Not many traditional pharmacies can guarantee that the pharmaceuticals they sell are authentic, and this problem is much more prevalent in rural areas,” he said. “This leads to lack of consumer confidence but presents a great opportunity to retailers that can certify the authenticity of their products.”

Such comments show the advantages modern pharmacy chains hold compared to traditional pharmacies. Industry insiders, however, acknowledge the popularity of traditional pharmacies among Vietnamese people. Habits, though, are changing, according to Mr. Truong Minh Hai, Managing Director of the Phano Pharmacy chain, who believes the modern and standardized pharmacy model, selling prestigious brands, will gradually be preferred by consumers in the future.

The local pharmacy market has witnessed a wave of investors in the retail sector over the last two years, engaged in a race to expand networks. Those leading the market in terms of locations include Phano Pharmacy, with 67 outlets, and Pharmacity, with 54, and both are expanding rapidly. A new player, Vistar Pharmacy, which only launched its chain last year, already has 20 outlets in Ho Chi Minh City.

The arrival of MWG, DGW, and FPT along with expansions by existing players is certain to push up the competition to the next level. In addition to increasing the number of locations and expanding to other cities and provinces, retailers also have their own particular strategies. While Phano Pharmacy and Pharmacity concentrate on standard pharmacies under the international model, Vistar has chosen to sell both healthcare and beauty products. According to a recent Nielsen report on the competition in Vietnam’s retail market, the convenience store and modern pharmacy chain models are growing significantly in both developed and developing markets like Vietnam.

Nevertheless, Mr. Robert Tran, CEO of the Robenny Corporation in Canada - USA and Asia Pacific, a global business development strategy advisory group, emphasized that the modern pharmacy chain model will have a tough time reaching into rural areas because of the habit among local people of buying medicine at traditional pharmacies. As a result, “traditional pharmacies will continue to develop in Vietnam,” he believes. (Vietnam Economic Times – June 24)

Vian Company Limited

IHH Healthcare strengthens its foothold in China

Sat, 24 Jun 2017 23:53:43 +0800

KUALA LUMPUR – IHH Healthcare began construction Friday of a new hospital in Shanghai, as part of an 8 billion yuan ($1.2 billion) investment to turn China into its fifth key market.

The Kuala Lumpur and Singapore-listed premium hospital operator is building the 450-bed Gleneagles Shanghai to provide integrated health care for the Yangtze River Delta region.

When completed in 2020 with capital spending of 1.36 billion yuan, it will offer health care services in seven key specialties: cardiology, cardiac surgery, gastroenterology, urology, minimally invasive surgery, general surgery and internal medicine.

The hospital, located on 35,754 sq. meter site in Shanghai New Hongqiao International Medical Center, near an international airport, is a 70:30 joint venture with state-controlled Shanghai Hongxin Medical Investment Holding.

IHH’s investment in China is carried out through 70.1%-owned Taikang Insurance Group. Beijing-based Taikang is also involved in asset management and early care. Both companies will jointly fund future projects in China in proportion to their shareholdings.

IHH, which is controlled by Malaysian state investment fund Khazanah Nasional, said the Shanghai hospital is a part of its long-term ambition to turn China into a key market after Malaysia, Singapore, Turkey and India.

“We are confident of our prospects, given the rising demand for quality health care here,” said Tan See Leng, IHH’s CEO in a press release. He added that private sector investment into China is easier now since the recent liberalization of the health care sector, including insurance coverage.

Apart from Gleneagles Shanghai, the group will open a 350-bed general hospital in Chengdu in 2018 and a 70-bed specialist hospital in Nanjing in 2019.

Though it operates over 10,000 licensed beds in 50 hospitals, including the newly opened Gleneagles Hong Kong, IHH recently warned of high cost pressure on its operations due to the strengthening of the U.S. dollar.

Without one-off gains, net profit declined 15% year on year to 201.8 million ringgit ($47 million) on revenue of 2.68 billion ringgit in the first quarter of 2017.

Startup costs of preoperational and new hospitals, including the 500-bed Gleneagles Hong Kong, will continue weigh on margins, said Kenanga Investment Bank in a recent research note. But it also noted that operations in Hong Kong are improving with better utilization of operating theaters.

Nomura expects occupancy at the hospital to rise starting in the third quarter once it signs panel and insurance partnerships.

IHH is Asia’s largest hospital chain operator by market capitalization.

Legend backs H&Q Asia Pacific-owned beauty chain

Sat, 24 Jun 2017 23:50:27 +0800

“The Beijing-headquartered firm made the investment from its $250m healthcare-focused fund.

Private equity and venture firm Legend Capital has led a 120 million yuan ($17 million; €16 million) funding round in Chinese beauty company PhiSkin, a portfolio company of pan-Asian investment firm H&Q Asia Pacific.

Legend Capital invested from its healthcare-focused fund, 2016-vintage LC Healthcare Fund I, which closed on $250 million.

Ares Management also participated in the round via its first ever yuan-denominated fund.

Shanghai-based PhiSkin is a medical aesthetic chain that offers botox procedures, laser treatments, double eyelids surgery, as well as other non-surgical beauty treatments. The company, which has clinics and beauty centres in Shanghai, Beijing, Ningbo and Hangzhou, plans to open another three centres by the end of 2017. It also expects to launch various education training programmes for aesthetic medicine in the country.

H&QAP invested $10 million for a more than 60 percent in the company in 2014. Following the latest investment round, the firm remains the largest shareholder in the company, owning roughly a quarter of PhiSkin.

“There’s a lot of strategic relationships Legend and Ares can bring in but the most important thing would be an exit strategy in the next three years, which will most likely focus on an onshore listing,” H&QAP managing director Mark Hsu told Private Equity International.

When asked about PhiSkin’s future plans, Hsu said the company is expecting the natural expansion of the business, both in terms of geographic expansion as well as into different product lines including private label branded products.

“The biggest challenge in geographic expansion is getting licences especially in China. One of the key things we look for with Legend and Ares is their regulatory relationships and their assistance with the licence process,” Hsu said

Under its ownership, H&QAP established PhiSkin as a leading training facility and education in aesthetics. The firm also hired former Sephora China CEO Catherine Kang to join the company in 2015. Under Kang, the company brought in high quality dermatologists and imported medical devices with latest cutting edge technology from overseas to provide the best service to Chinese customers. Over a period of two years, the company has grown from one to seven clinics across China, with revenue of over 60 million yuan.

H&Q AP currently manages four to five pan-Asian funds focused on the cross-border theme. The firm has managed over $3.5 billion in committed capital across 28 funds since inception in 1985. Healthcare is a major focus for the firm, with favoured areas of investment including innovative drug companies, medical devices and medical technology.

The firm is also in the process of teaming up with a Chinese healthcare group to launch a 1 billion yuan healthcare-focused fund.

Valeant Pharma to sell Inova unit to Carlyle, Pacific Equity for USD 930m

Sat, 24 Jun 2017 23:49:48 +0800

June 8 (SeeNews) - Canada-and-US-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals (TSE:VRX, NYSE:VRX) said Thursday it will sell its Inova Pharmaceuticals business to a company jointly owned by Australian buyout firm Pacific Equity Partners and US private equity group Carlyle (NASDAQ:CG) for USD 930 million (EUR 830m) in cash.

Valeant is currently following a strategy to cut debt by offloading non-core assets. The struggling company aims to raise some USD 8 billion through such disposals.

Valeant will use the proceeds from the Inova sale to pay down part of its debt, according to a statement from Thursday.

The sale of Inova will allow Valeant to simplify its portfolio and strengthen its balance sheet, chief executive Joseph Papa said in the statement. The group will continue to evaluate opportunities to deliver on its commitments and unlock shareholder value, he added.

The divestment is overseen by Goldman Sachs and is expected to close in the second half of 2017, subject to regulatory approvals.

Inova sells prescription and over-the-counter products for weight management, pain management, cardiology, cough and cold in 15 markets globally including Australia, South Africa and Asia.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.892)

KKR closes largest ever pan-Asia fund on $9.3bn

Sat, 03 Jun 2017 11:59:57 +0800

“The firm’s Asian Fund III, raised in less than seven months, has now surpassed its $6bn predecessor Fund II as the region’s largest fund.

Private equity giant KKR has amassed $9.3 billion for its latest pan-Asia vehicle, raising the largest Asian fund in private equity history, according to the firm.

The firm launched Asian Fund III in the third quarter of 2016 with a target of $7 billion, and held a first close on $5.8 billion in the first quarter of 2017.

Asian Fund III had a high re-up rate from KKR’s existing investors, a source with knowledge of the matter told Private Equity International. In terms of geography, 53 percent of the investors in the fund are from the Americas, 22 percent from EMEA and 19 percent from Asia. Limited partners from the Americas committed 53 percent of capital raised, while Asian investors committed 24 percent and EMEA LPs, 23 percent, the source added.

The Washington State Investment Board committed $500 million to the fund, while the New York State Common Retirement Fund invested $275 million, and the Minnesota State Board of Investment, $150 million, according to PEI data.

The firm has made a GP commitment of $800 million, marking its second largest commitment to a KKR fund, following the nearly $1.4 billion committed to the $13.9 billion KKR Americas XII Fund closed in March this year. Of the $800 million, $500 million came from KKR’s balance sheet while $300 million came from its employees.

Capital raised from Fund III will be invested across corporate carve-outs in North Asia, cross-border partnerships, large-scale minority investments, as well as deals focused on Asia’s rising urbanisation and consumption trends, environmental initiatives, and food and agriculture, the firm said.

"The Asia market offers many compelling investment opportunities in private equity given its secular growth and attractive valuations,” Joseph Bae, member and managing partner of KKR Asia, said in a statement. “This flagship fund is a testament to KKR’s ability to drive meaningful growth and value creation in our investee companies as a partner of choice to leading Asian businesses, families and management teams.”

KKR has raised two other pan-Asia funds: the 2007-vintage, $4 billion Asian Fund which is partially liquidated and delivered a gross IRR of 18.9 percent (net IRR of 13.7 percent) and gross multiple of 2.2x gross (net multiple of 1.8x); and 2013-vintage Asian Fund II which closed on $6 billion. Fund II is fully deployed and has so far generated a gross IRR of 29.1 percent (net IRR of 20.6 percent) and a gross multiple of 1.5x (net multiple of 1.3x) as of end-March 2017.

With the closing of this fund, KKR’s private equity business manages more than $68 billion in assets under management worldwide. The firm has deployed over $2.5 billion in equity over the last 18 months, including big-ticket transactions such as the $4.5 billion takeover of Calsonic Kansei and the $1.3 billion acquisition of Hitachi Koki.

Since 2005, KKR has invested over $12 billion in Asia Pacific private equity investments across 55 companies.

PEI Media Ltd

Myanmar Investments Intl Ltd Investment into pharmacy joint venture

Sun, 28 May 2017 09:41:10 +0800

26 May 2017

	

 
 Press Release   26 May 2017

Myanmar Investments International Limited

Investment into pharmacy joint venture

Further to the announcement made on 10 April 2017, Myanmar Investments International Limited [AIM: MIL] (“MIL” or the “Company”), the AIM-quoted, Myanmar focused investment company with existing investments in the telecom and microfinance sectors and a well-developed pipeline of opportunities, today announces that it has entered into formal agreements to set up a pharmacy, healthcare, and personal care product joint venture in Myanmar.

The two joint venture partners are an experienced retail group that currently runs over 55 pharmacy, health and beauty outlets in a neighbouring Asian country; with the second partner being an industry veteran with significant experience leading Asian-based retail concepts including Wal-Mart in Korea and India, VinMart in Vietnam and Reliance Markets in India.

McKinsey has predicted that the middle and affluent classes in Myanmar are set to boom in the coming years, with the segment growing to 19 million people by 2030 and tripling consumer spending from US$35 billion to US$100 billion. Given this expected rapid rise in consumer spending, MIL is excited at the prospects for this joint venture.

MIL has invested US$495,000 and holds a 45% stake in the new joint venture. The Company has not committed to, but expects to, invest further capital in the business over the next few years as it expands.

Aung Htun, MIL’s Managing Director said, “We are very pleased to have been able to form a joint venture with such experienced partners and in such a dynamic sector. This investment also serves as evidence that our execution is on track as we broaden the spectrum of our businesses in Myanmar.”

- Ends -

For further information please contact:

	

 
Aung Htun                           Michael Dean 
 Managing Director                   Finance Director 
 Myanmar Investments International   Myanmar Investments 
 Ltd                                 International Ltd 
 +95 (0) 1 391 804                   +95 (0) 1 391 804 
 +95 (0) 94 0160 0501                +95 (0) 94 2006 4957 
 aunghtun@myanmarinvestments.com     mikedean@myanmarinvestments.com 
 
  Nominated Adviser                   Broker 
  Philip Secrett / Jamie Barklem/     Andrew Pinder / David 
  Carolyn Sansom                      Herring 
  Grant Thornton UK LLP               Alistair Roberts (Hong 
  +44 (0) 20 7383 5100                Kong) 
                                      Investec Bank plc 
                                      +44 (0) 20 7597 4000 
 
  Public Relations 
  Julian Bosdet / Dr. Jenny 
  Lee / Alejandra Campuzano 
  Abchurch Communications 
  +44 (0) 20 7398 7741

Notes to Editors:

Myanmar Investments International Limited (AIM: MIL) is the first Myanmar-focused investment company to be admitted to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange. MIL was established in 2013 with the intention of building long term shareholder value by proactively investing in a diversified portfolio of Myanmar businesses that will benefit from the country’s re-emergence and ongoing economic development. The Company is led by an experienced and entrepreneurial team who between them have considerable industrial, corporate and financial management experience.

MIL aims to identify investments with strong growth which if necessary can be “de-risked” through the introduction of experienced senior line-management, mentors and / or strategic partners sourced by MIL’s management board. The Company’s main focus is on opportunities that are experiencing acute supply and demand imbalances, such as within the consumer and capacity-constrained sectors.

With its strong proprietary investment pipeline of deals, MIL provides investors with a highly disciplined and conservative investment process into one of the most promising growth opportunities of this era.

MIL’s largest investment (US$21m cost for a 9.3% shareholding) is in Apollo Towers, one of Myanmar’s top telecom towers companies with 1,800 towers. Apollo operates in the high growth telecom sector with a strong management that is growing the number of co-locations (ie multiple tenancies) on its portfolio of towers. In June 2016, the US Government’s Overseas Private Investment Corporation (“OPIC”) provided a US$250m debt facility to Apollo Towers.

MIL’s first investment in August 2014 was into Myanmar Finance International Limited (“MFIL”) which today is one of the top 10 microfinance companies in Myanmar. Since MIL invested, MFIL’s business has expanded rapidly; its loan portfolio has a CAGR of 148% since investment. The business is profitable with zero NPLs and a sustainable expansion plan for long term growth. In November 2015, the Norwegian Government’s Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (“Norfund”), the Norwegian development finance institution, also became a 25% shareholder in MFIL.

Myanmar, a country of approximately 51.4 million people and roughly the size of France, has been isolated for much of the last 50 years. Once it was one of the more prosperous countries in Southeast Asia as it has an abundance of natural resources (oil, natural gas, arable land, tourist attractions and a long coastline), it is now one of the least developed countries in the world.

The country has undergone an unprecedented and peaceful transformational reform process, initiated by U Thein Sein’s Administration in 2011. This is now continuing under the elected civilian administration led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi which came to power in April 2016 as a result of the first democratic elections in 50 years. While the process is still evolving, the new government has broad support and significant progress has been made to the economic prospects of the country.

In October 2016, the United States government lifted all remaining sanctions against Myanmar and re-admitted the country into its preferred tariff system.

For more information about MIL, please visit www.myanmarinvestments.com.

MMK 1,362 = US$1 (as at 31 March 2017)

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

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CVC names new head of Asia

Sun, 21 May 2017 10:06:14 +0800

“Sigit Prasetya will replace Roy Kuan, who is retiring from the firm.

CVC Capital Partners has appointed Sigit Prasetya, a managing partner at the firm, to lead the firm’s operations in Asia, Private Equity International has learned.

He replaces Roy Kuan who will be retiring from his post as managing partner for the region in about 18 months after working for the firm since 1999.

Prasetya’s appointment was first reported by Debtwire.

In his new role, Prasetya will lead the firm’s private equity activities in the region including overseeing the deployment of CVC Asia Pacific IV, its latest pan-Asian buyout fund, which raised $3.5 billion in 2014. Capital from the fund will be invested in consumer-oriented deals in Greater China, South-East Asia, Japan and South Korea.

Fund IV is generating a 7 percent net internal rate of return and a 1.1x return multiple as of Q1 2017, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.

CVC’s Asian portfolio includes Malaysian funeral services provider Nirvana Asia, Japanese senior home provider Hasegawa Holdings, and South Korean parcel delivery company Logen Group.

The firm has also been expanding its team in Japan with the hiring of former General Electric chief executive Yoshiaki Fujimori in April as the firm’s first-ever senior advisor as well as Nobuaki Kurumatani, ex-deputy president of Sumitomo Mitsui, who was appointed in April as CVC’s president of Japan.

In addition, CVC is set to open an office in Mumbai, India in the coming months, headed by senior managing director Siddharth Patel, as previously reported by PEI.

Prasetya has been with CVC for close to a decade, heading its private equity activities in South-East Asia. He was behind CVC’s investment in Indonesian retailer Matahari Department Store, which the firm bought in 2010 for $770 million. This was Indonesia’s biggest private equity deal at that time.

He also sits on the board of CVC’s advisory business and is a member of the Asia Pacific Private Equity Board, the Asia Pacific Investment Committee and the Human Resources Committee.

Prior to joining CVC, Sigit worked for Henderson Equity Partners as head of South-East Asia and for Morgan Stanley Investment Banking where he was responsible for Indonesia and its financial institution practice in the region.

PEI Media Ltd

Key requirement in promoting career in Vietnam: English

Sun, 21 May 2017 10:03:14 +0800

Ever-increasing demand for English skills in Vietnam presents huge possibilities for investment in English centers that meet needs.

In the latest research on English language skills among countries and territories worldwide, Vietnam was ranked 31st among 72 countries in the EF English Proficiency Index (EPI), released at the end of last year by EF Education First, a global language training company. The global survey conducted on nearly 1 million adults links English proficiency with income, innovation, and quality of life. Vietnam, which has remained at the medium level, with a score of 54.06 out of 100, follows only Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines in ASEAN and is in seventh position out of the 19 countries in Asia.

The English language skills of Vietnamese people have improved significantly over the last few years, as EF EPI had recorded Vietnam at a low level between 2011 and 2014. English is considered as one of the best tools for Vietnamese people in promoting their careers, and hundreds of local as well as foreign English training centers have opened over the last decade to meet increasing demand among diverse age groups and students, parents, and employers of different stripes.

Boom in openings

Vietnam’s English language training market is growing quickly and seen robust expansion in recent years, evidenced, for example, by the massive openings of Apax English learning centers around the country in only the last two years. Apax English was launched in early 2015 by Apax Holdings, a subsidiary of the Vietnamese Online Education Game JSC (EGroup). In mid-2016, the leading Vietnamese adaptive learning company signed a strategic partnership setting up a joint venture with Chungdahm Learning, a South Korean education group, to create diversified English learning products for the local market.

The company, along with EGroup, is to develop advanced digital learning products that are specifically tailored to meet the needs of students, especially those aged six to 14, according to Mr. Kim Young Hwa, CEO of Chungdahm Learning. Apax Holdings is now operating 36 English training centers with more than 20,000 students being trained by 400 native-speaking teachers in nine cities and provinces, concentrated in the northern market, with 28 locations in Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Vinh Phuc, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Thai Binh, Thanh Hoa, and Nghe An, while it has eight branches in Ho Chi Minh City.

While Apax English has been dominating the north, the country’s south has so far been dominated by Vietnam-US Society (VUS) training centers. Founded 20 years ago, VUS is considered a pioneer and leading English training center in Ho Chi Minh City, with eighteen branches. It is the largest English language training name in the country in terms of scale, with more than 200,000 young students ranging from four to 15 years old as well as adults enrolling every year. It took initial steps to penetrate into the northern market by opening its first center in Hanoi last September.

Another long-standing English training center in Vietnam since 1994 is Apollo Education and Training Organization. It was the first 100 per cent foreign-owned English training center in the country and been operating nearly 30 schools in seven major cities. Apollo has a wide range of students, from three to 16 years of age in its Junior program and young professionals from 17 and above in its Apollo 360 program, which provides students with both English skills and soft skills via its exclusive methodology (LETS - Learning English Through Subjects), which follows the latest trend in teaching English, of guiding children to think and learn independently from the teacher.

Different from other English education systems, British Council is also known as the UK’s international organization for cultural and education development and arrived in Vietnam in 1993. It has been working with the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) to support improvements in language testing and assessment, as that drives improvements in public education at universities. The British Council has contributed to the Vietnamese Government’s Foreign Language Project 2020, trained more than 3,500 English teachers, and held the largest Asian foreign language conference in Vietnam.

Although the British Council has long targeted cultural exchange and received support from UK Government, given the major demand among Vietnamese people to study English, in 2013 it set up two more training centers in addition to its two bases in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Through this expansion, the British Council aims to provide English training to improve the quality of English language skills among Vietnamese people.

ILA Vietnam, meanwhile, has an imposing number of locations, with 31 branches in six major cities training 40,000 students and 400 foreign teachers. Since its foundation 16 years ago, it has trained more than 125,000 students, a number other English center chains aspire to reaching.

A number of different English training centers have launched fairly recently, especially in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, such as VASS, ACET, Wall Street English, Cleverlearn, and IvyPrep, taking the competition to a new level. The fierce competition explains why many English centers have quietly disappeared from the market.

Tough market

Ms. Nguyen Thu Nga, Managing Director of Rise, an English training center from the US based in Ho Chi Minh City, acknowledged that investment in English education has never been easy, especially in the current context of English centers continually expanding by seeking large investment in both quality and scale. Any enterprise, she said, needs to set up long-term investment strategies and must even accept not earning a profit in the initial years. “Location has always been a factor affecting quality and business proficiency, and all major English training centers have also focused on developing their own training programs,” Ms. Nga said.

Apart from training programs that follow a particular curriculum to provide international English certificates to their students, like IELTS or TOEFL, VUS, Apollo, and other names have expanded their portfolio to English training courses in secondary education as well as specific programs dedicated to company staff. This localization of training programs expresses the determination of these foreign investors to conquer Vietnam’s English training market.

According to one education expert, however, English training centers have been growing too quickly over recent years while the number of local teachers of suitable quality hasn’t kept pace. There also remains a shortage of qualified foreign teachers in Vietnam, sparking a battle among centers for talent. “Staffing costs are higher than for infrastructure, followed by marketing,” he said. “The core characteristic of this sector in being successful is not investment but staffing.” Mr. Andrew Hollins, the former CEO of ACET, agrees that the greatest challenge for English centers in Vietnam is personnel.

Potential remains.

As at March, Vietnam’s education market had 320 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects with total registered capital of more than $684 million, accounting for 1.3 per cent of all FDI projects but just 0.2 per cent of capital, in which foreign language training represents just a small proportion of numbers and capital. Vietnam’s education market in general and English language education in particular therefore remain fertile ground for international investors.

At the end of last year, Chungdahm Learning committed to financing $10 million in a joint venture with EGroup to enhance investment and development in Vietnam’s education market, including the chain of Apax English centers, by accelerating the portfolio of products students use at home, in the classroom, and within after-school study programs.

According to Bloomberg, HPEF Capital Partners Limited, a Hong Kong-based private equity fund, together with other shareholders, wishes to sell its controlling stakes in ILA Vietnam. Some local experts have said if any investor agreed with the price tag of $150 million for the 60 per cent, it would be ranked as one of the largest education M&A deals in the world in terms of scale.

Education companies are also appealing to private equity firms in Vietnam. Mekong Capital invested $6 million in Vietnam Australia International School (VAS) in 2010. Lotus Impact, sponsored by VinaCapital, also made an investment in the KOTO Catering occupational training center. And the World Bank’s private lending arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), last year committed to co-invest in a $10 million round into VUS.

Overseas investors have been attracted by Vietnam’s rising middle class, and nearly 60 per cent of the population is under 35 and around 42 per cent are under 24. Mr. Nguyen The Bao, Chairman of the Vietnam American School System (VASS), said that investment in Vietnam’s education sector as well as in English language training are still regarded as having lower risk than investment in other sectors. (Vietnam Economic Times – May 20)

Vian Company Limited

Empowered employees at the heart of Abbott in Vietnam’s success

Sun, 14 May 2017 10:51:11 +0800

A company culture in which employees are nurtured and empowered is the reason not only for Abbott’s steady position among the Best Places to Work ranking in Vietnam but also for its stronger growth and presence in the country.

For four consecutive years, Abbott has been named among the Best Places to Work in Vietnam by Anphabe. This year, the company ranked 9th among the top 100 companies across industries and sustained its top position in the pharmaceuticals/biotech/healthcare category for the second year.

To do that is no small feat, as Vietnam has seen an increased presence of international pharmaceutical companies, and as a result, competition among these big names for the best talents. The pharma market is forecast to increase from $4.2 billion in 2015 to $7.2 billion by 2020 and maintains double digit growth through 2025 according to BMI Research. The industry will keep growing at around 10 to 15 percent a year, said Chris Freund, founder of private equity specialist firm Mekong Capital Ltd.

There are keys to attracting and retaining talents, according to Ngo Van Huy, general manager of Abbott’s pharmaceuticals business in Vietnam.

“It is only when employees are supported and have a strong belief in the company’s mission and values that they are motivated to develop innovative solutions to help solve health issues, bringing people a better life,” he said.

Vietnam is one of the priority markets for Abbott. For more than 20 years, Abbott has step by step reinforced its commitment to bring Vietnamese people better healthcare solutions, offering them opportunities to reach their full potential. This commitment is demonstrated not only by services offered to consumers, but also by programmes and policies empowering local talents.

“We are committed to recruiting people with diverse experiences and backgrounds and to provide innovative functional support for local commercial teams,” Huy said, naming the various programmes the company has provided its employees, such as the marketing training programmes, customised training programmes for different management levels, and other rewards and recognition programmes for teams and individuals.

The company also partners with professional and academic organisations to strengthen the capability or soft skills of its diverse talents. On the other hand, there are some global protocols in nurturing and empowering people that Abbott follows in all countries, including Vietnam.

“First, our purpose is to help people live their best possible lives, through the enabling power of health. This starts with giving our employees the best chance to realise their potential. Abbott helps its people do this by leveraging the scale and diversity of its businesses to create unique career paths, providing accelerated development for high-performers, and offering the best-in-class curated learning experiences to support role transitions,” Huy said. “Second, Abbott helps employees have great joy and pride in doing work that matters. The work we do every day at Abbott touches millions of people, helping them live not just longer, but better. At Abbott, we foster a sense of purpose by empowering our employees and providing the platform to challenge conventional ways of thinking and operating, so they may shape healthcare.

“Additionally, we operate with the highest standards of ethics and integrity and actively encourage our employees to give back to the community and partner with our customers and stakeholders to do the same. Lastly, the company ensures camaraderie and collaboration, and a caring and encouraging work environment by cultivating a transparent, performance-based culture, prioritising the health and wellbeing of employees and their families, and providing opportunities to share opinions that make a real difference at work,” Huy explained.

Last year, Abbott acquired Glomed Pharmaceuticals, a leading Vietnamese pharmaceutical manufacturer. The acquisition has paved the way for Abbott to further grow in Vietnam, extend its portfolios across therapeutic areas to better serve patients in Vietnam with innovative, high-quality healthcare solutions and bring benefits to consumers and employees, allowing them to live a healthier life and reach their full potential.

According to Huy, Abbott intends to build on Glomed’s success to ensure long-term growth in the country. “Together, our deep insights into local needs will lead to further local innovation, investment, and partnerships to benefit Vietnamese people and bring greater success to Abbott in the future,” he said.

Through this acquisition, Abbott has become one of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies (according to global information and technology services company IMS’s report for the second quarter of 2016) in Vietnam, further reinforcing its position and commitment to the market and its people. (Vietnam Investment Review – May 12)

Vian Company Limited

J-STAR smashes $ 270m target for third fund

Mon, 01 May 2017 17:44:14 +0800

“The Japan-focused fund is 50% larger than its predecessor.

Tokyo-based private equity firm J-STAR has held a final close on its third buyout fund on over ¥33.25 billion ($298 million; €272 million) hard-cap, Private Equity International has learned.

The firm launched J-STAR No. 3 Investment Limited Partnership in July last year with a ¥30 billion target and held a first close on around ¥15 billion in end-2016. J-STAR No. 3 is significantly larger than its predecessor, which closed ¥20.4 billion against a ¥15 billion target.

J-STAR secured ¥32.5 billion of commitments from investors; the firm also put in ¥750 million to its latest fund.

J-STAR No. 3 attracted new investors, such as regional banks, as well as re-ups from existing investors including global family offices, funds of funds and superannuation funds, reflecting a stronger appetite for Japanese private equity, J-STAR chief executive officer and managing partner Gregory Hara told PEI. Sixty percent of fund commitments came from international LPs, while 40 percent were from domestic LPs.

“Aside from better economic figures in Japan, investors are realising that a consolidation play is happening in the Japanese market. A lot of founder owners are looking to private equity to increase their company efficiency and are turning to M&A,” Hara said.

The firm expects to make 10 to 15 deals from the fund in Japan’s lower mid-market and will focus on a buy and build strategy. Earlier this month, J-STAR struck its first deal from the fund, acquiring veterinary clinic Fuji Field. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed, but the firm typically makes equity investments of between ¥1 billion and ¥3 billion.

The story has been amended to show that J-STAR’s original target for its third fund is $270 million.

PEI Media Ltd

Vietnam’s healthcare sector attracts more investments

Mon, 01 May 2017 10:12:53 +0800

Vietnam has been witnessing a new wave of investments in hospitals since 2015 after the government called for different sources of funding in the healthcare sector.

According to the HCMC Healthcare Department, in the 2016-2020 period, the city received 80 investment projects in the healthcare sector with total investment capital of VND14 trillion. These included 30 projects on upgrading existing hospitals and building new ones, of which 19 hospitals will be built from now to the end of 2018.

According to the Vietnam Private Medical Practice Association, many foreign investors have shown interest in the healthcare sector. In 2016, Bumrungrad Hospital from Thailand and Lippo Group from Indonesia expressed their intention to develop hospital chains in Vietnam.

Ravindran Govindan, president of Singaporean Mercatus, which has an investment fund in healthcare, also commented it is now the right time to invest in the healthcare sector in Vietnam.

In early 2016, VOF, managed by VinaCapital, announced it had acquired a 75 percent stake in Thai Hoa International Hospital in Dong Thap province with an investment deal worth $10 million. The fund is still seeking opportunities in the healthcare sector, including equitized hospitals.

In January 2014, Shangrila from Malaysia built the 320-bed Thanh Do International Hospital in Binh Tan district, HCMC, which was renamed City International Hospital (CIH).

Zakirul Karim, a medical quality consultant at Hanh Phuc Hospital in Binh Duong province, said that Vietnam is a magnet for investors, noting that the total spending of all Vietnamese on healthcare services accounts for 5.8 percent of GDP, the highest level in ASEAN.

Singaporean Temasek, at a meeting with the government, expressed its willingness to increase investments in Vietnam, including in private hospitals.

Meanwhile, the government of Vietnam welcomes investments from all sources into the healthcare sector, admitting that spending on public healthcare services is a burden on the state budget.

The government of Vietnam also wants to develop private healthcare, planning to have privately run hospitals account for 20 percent of total hospitals in the country by 2020.

Pham The Dong, president of Saigon ITO Hospital, said the demand for high-quality healthcare services in Vietnam has been increasing rapidly. Vietnamese spends $2-3 billion every year for healthcare services abroad.

Fat profit

In HCMC and Hanoi, the standard minimum floor area for one bed is 50 square meters. The state-owned hospitals in HCMC have become overloaded, so there is a growing tendency of relocating hospitals to the suburbs.

According to Dong, it takes four to five years on average to put one hospital into operation. The investment rate depends on the number of beds, about VND1.5-2 billion for one bed.

It takes five to seven years to take back the investment capital and if hospitals are managed well, the average profit would be 7-8 percent. (Viet Nam Net – April 25)

Vian Company Limited

Abraaj shifts focus from regional funds

Mon, 01 May 2017 10:08:05 +0800

“The Arif Naqvi-led firm is reportedly well on its way to a sizeable first close on its first global fund.

Abraaj Group, the emerging markets private equity investor, is shifting to a global model – investing in its markets from one global pool of capital – rather than specific regional and country funds, a source close to the firm has confirmed.

The firm currently runs separate funds for Latin America, Africa and North Africa as well as numerous country funds, such as those investing in Turkey, Palestine and Pakistan, according to PEI data. This generation of funds will continue to be invested and managed as per their original remit.

The global fund has a target size of $6 billion, according to three sources with knowledge of the firm, and could invest in around 50 portfolio companies. A Bloomberg report earlier this week said the firm could raise up to $8 billion for the fund and was likely to hold a first close by the end of June on $4.5 billion. A spokeswoman for the firm declined to comment on the firm’s fundraising activity.

Alongside its numerous regional and country-specific funds, Abraaj has raised four flagship buyout funds since it was established in 2002. The most recent of these, Abraaj Private Equity Fund IV, closed on $2 billion in 2011. Performance data on Abraaj’s funds are not available and the firm declined to comment.

The flagship fund family focused on Abraaj’s home markets of the Middle East. The new fund will invest across Asia, Central Asia, MENA, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.

In the last year the firm has also raised its first sector-specific fund: the Growth Markets Health Fund, which is understood to have attracted commitments of $1 billion.

KKR turns to Asia for deployment in Q1

Mon, 01 May 2017 10:06:43 +0800

“With valuations in the US and western Europe elevated, more than half of KKR’s private equity investments were in Asia, with a focus on Japan.

KKR investment activity was tilted toward Asia in the first quarter, as the alternative asset manager sees attractive opportunities in that part of the world.

KKR deployed $5.4 billion during the quarter, including $3.5 billion in private equity. Of the private equity investments, $1.9 billion – more than half – was in Asia, making it the most active geographical region during the quarter for private equity.

Some of its investments included the purchase of auto part maker Calsonic Kansei for about $4.5 billion from Nissan Motor, and Hitachi’s chip-making equipment and video unit, Hitachi Koki, for about $2.3 billion. The largest transaction of the quarter was in Bharti, India’s largest telecom tower operator, which KKR previously owned.

“The story has really been for us a meaningful focus on Asia deployment with a particular focus on corporate carve-out transactions in Japan,” Scott Nuttall, the head of global capital and asset management group, said during the earnings conference call on Thursday morning. “Given all this activity, our Asian Fund II is now fully deployed.”

Nuttall noted that valuations of many KKR transactions in Asia have been in the 7X to 9X EBIDTA range with very low-cost financing. In the US and western Europe, valuations on average in the market have been above 10X EBIDTA. “It’s late in the cycle, so in the US and in Europe we’re a net seller,” he added.

As KKR Asian Fund II became fully deployed, given for modest reserves, KKR turned on Asian Fund III, which is still fundraising.

The firm held a first close on $5.8 billion on Asia III in the first quarter, including $5.3 billion of third-party capital. It expects to hold a final close in late summer on $9.25 billion, including balance sheet and employee capital.

For the next couple of quarters, the firm has more than $700 million in Asian transactions that are signed and not yet announced.

Nuttall explained that KKR’s private equity business in Asia was more concentrated on minority growth investments in the last several years, but it is changing.

“What we’re seeing more recently is more controlled buyout transactions, especially in Japan,” he said. “In the first quarter between Calsonic and Hitachi Koki, those transactions are some where we were able to use the balance sheet and capital markets for a significant portion of the capital and syndicate them.”

KKR posted an economic net income of $668.5 million in the first quarter, up from an economic net loss of $506.9 million a year ago. Assets under management stood at $137.6 billion as of 31 March, up from $129.6 billion as of 31 December.

PEI Media Ltd

Trendlines to deepen presence in Singapore

Sat, 22 Apr 2017 15:32:21 +0800

It will incubate Singapore-based companies via Trendlines Medical Singapore, its first incubator outside of Israel.

THE Trendlines Group - the Israel-based, Catalist-listed startup incubator that invents, incubates and invests in medical and agricultural technologies (medtech, agtech) - is looking to significantly deepen its presence in Singapore this year.

For starters, the group will incubate up to four Singapore-based companies via Trendlines Medical Singapore (TMS), its first incubator outside of Israel. Established last year, TMS targets early-stage healthcare companies with a focus on Singapore and the Asia-Pacific.

In addition, Trendlines will seek to partner various local universities, research institutions and hospitals, to jointly develop innovative healthcare technologies for commercialisation in the region.

This follows the group’s recently announced collaboration with the Singapore General Hospital via its in-house innovation unit, Trendlines Labs. The tie-up sees Trendlines Labs receiving a grant from the Singapore-Israel Research and Development Foundation for the development of and clinical trial for its Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI) product.

Eric Yeo, chief executive officer of Trendlines Medical Singapore, tells The Business Times that this project will enable “a product that will improve the human condition to be further developed, tested and eventually be commercially available in the global markets”.

He adds: “Such collaborations enable good leverage of mutual excellence and we certainly believe that the SUI project is just the first of such collaborations … and that there are opportunities to have similar collaborations with other institutions in Singapore.”

TMS, which occupies a 480-sqm facility in Block 77 at the JTC LaunchPad @ one-north, is backed by Trendlines and German medical device company B Braun. Both parties will support the development of and investment opportunities in TMS’ portfolio companies.

Similar to Trendlines’ medtech and agtech incubators in Israel, TMS is an “intense investor”. This means that, from the onset of investing into a portfolio company, it will be deeply involved in the company’s tech and business development, market and commercialisation strategy, finance planning and marketing communications.

Mr Yeo says: “The startup environments in both Israel and Singapore receive strong support from the respective governments. We believe this is the right approach to catalyse startups.”

He notes, however, that there may not be as many medtech entrepreneurs in Singapore as there are in Israel. That said, there are outstanding startup founders and technologies to be found in the Republic, he says.

“The advantage of our Israel-Singapore operations is that we can embark on cross-sharing of experience to further hone the skills of budding entrepreneurs or train a pool of entrepreneurs-in-residence.

"Our dual-site operations is also a good platform for us to consider incubating technologies with a focus on market relevance. For instance, if we find a technology that has more market potential in Asian markets, we can incubate it in Singapore – and vice versa.”

Trendlines, which listed on the Catalist board in November 2015, has not had an encouraging run. The stock price has been languishing - it closed at S$0.15 on Thursday - due either to an insufficient understanding of its business or poor public investor appetite for incubators.

Mr Yeo says the group has been embarking on roadshows to share its business developments with the investment community. “We believe that these ongoing efforts will ensure that our shareholders and stakeholders understand our business model, and appreciate the time-intensive nature of our business.”

As a startup incubator, Trendlines’ key performance indicator is return on investment. In other words, exits are extremely important for the business. But this is also a challenge.

Mr Yeo notes that given the complex nature of deep technologies such as medtech and agtech, it could take years for Trendlines’ portfolio companies to scale, gain realisable value and exit either through a trade sale or an initial public offering.

“In a way, it is like growing a young child. We need a considerable investment of time and focus to groom the child to be a successful adult of substantial value. Our portfolio companies are like these young children.”

Since 2007, Trendlines has established 75 companies, six of which have scored an exit and two have gone public. Mr Yeo says: “We have had eight successful precedents. Over time, we are confident that we will see more of such successes.”

READ MORE: Need to fight for survival makes Israel the hotbed for innovation

Mr Yeo says the startup environments in both Israel and Singapore receive strong support from the respective governments. “If we find a technology that has more market potential in Asian markets, we can incubate it in Singapore - and vice versa.”

Singapore Press Holdings Limited

UOB draws US$600m investments into Myanmar since May 2015

Sat, 22 Apr 2017 15:30:21 +0800

UNITED Overseas Bank (UOB) said it has helped to attract more than US$600 million of investment into Myanmar since the bank opened its Yangon branch in May 2015.

“The majority of the investment has come from multinational and regional companies based in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand,” it said in a press statement.

UOB has provided corporate loans and other financial solutions such as project financing, cash management and supply chain financing to companies mainly from the manufacturing, hospitality and commercial real estate industries.

Ian Wong, managing director and head of group strategy and international management at UOB, said that clients continue to see the long-term potential of Myanmar as an investment destination.

“Over the last 24 months, we have helped hundreds of companies from across the region to make investments supporting Myanmar’s continued economic development,” he added.

UOB has been named as the Best International Bank in the inaugural Asiamoney Best Bank Awards 2017: Myanmar.

Highlighting its long-standing commitment to the country, UOB noted that ever since it opened a representative office in Yangon in 1994, the group has been conducting knowledge-sharing initiatives in Myanmar.

UOB has provided corporate loans and other financial solutions to companies mainly from the manufacturing, hospitality and commercial real estate industries.

Singapore Press Holdings Limited

campaignmoney:Tweet of the day, on Trump’s failure to sell off...

Sat, 22 Apr 2017 11:02:35 +0800

campaignmoney:

Tweet of the day, on Trump’s failure to sell off his businesses and prevent conflicts of interest.

Global Wellness banks on beauty offerings

Sat, 15 Apr 2017 09:34:15 +0800

INVESTMENT group Global Wellness Holdings (GWH) is investing in a big way in Singapore’s aesthetics industry - and pushing the group’s beauty offerings up a notch with its newest luxury aesthetics arm.

It opened its second Uber-Aesthetic Clinic at myVillage Serangoon Gardens recently to meet the needs of its customer base, says Abhit Sud, executive chairman of GWH.

“We have a strong customer base already through our Beyond Beauty and FIL brands, and they’re beginning to look for medical solution capabilities. Many of them also have introduced their daughters to our services so we are now serving two generations under the same roof,” he says.

Uber Aesthetics will be GWH’s luxury medical arm which provides FDA-approved “branded” technology like Coolsculpting, Q-switched Nd:YAG and Fractional CO2 lasers, and the Sculptra non-surgical facelift.

GWH acquired the first Uber Aesthetic clinic, led by Dr Frank Lee, on Hill Street in 2005, and plans are under way to build its flagship in a prominent Orchard Road location this year.

The clinic at Serangoon Gardens is helmed by Dr Louis Loo. The company has plans to open a few more clinics throughout Singapore.

“Health and beauty is one of the businesses that GWH, which is part of the Maya Group, an Indian multinational, is investing in as we see this as a growth area,” says Mr Sud.

Operating in Singapore for the past two decades, GWH’s other brands in the market are Body Contour Premier, Passage New York, Beyond Beauty International, Murad, FIL, Physiomed, Hair Inc New York and Sole Relax. It currently has 25 spas and four Aesthetics & Spinal clinics in Singapore and other neighbouring countries, with a client base of more than a million here.

Aware of the fact that South Korea is the leader in the cosmetic beauty industry in Asia, Uber-Aesthetic will also feature the latest technology and techniques from there, adds Mr Abhit.

Globally renowned aesthetic dermatologist and surgeon, Dr Kwon Han Jin, was present at the Serangoon clinic opening. He specialises in the absorbable thread-lifting procedure which is also available at Uber-Aesthetic clinic.

GWH’s second Uber-Aesthetic Clinic at myVillage Serangoon Gardens is in line with the group’s drive to grow its aesthetics business.

Singapore Press Holdings Limited

Vietjet seeks shareholder approval to lift foreign ownership

Fri, 14 Apr 2017 23:32:58 +0800

HO CHI MINH CITY – Vietnam’s low-cost carrier Vietjet Air will seek shareholder approval to raise the upper limit of foreign ownership to 49% from 30% at an annual general meeting on April 20.

Around 26% of the airline is now held by foreign owners, including a 5.4% stake held by Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC. Vietjet will ask shareholders to vote for the new upper limit before filing the request to the authorities.

Under current regulations, foreign ownership limit in listed companies can be moved up to 49%. However, the rule is not applicable for some sectors such as banking and aviation. For airlines, the foreign ownership limit is 30%.

But unlike other state-owned carriers, Vietjet is a listed company and relatively free from government influence. Vietjet believes that by securing shareholders’ approval first, it is more likely to win over the government.

If the state does approve the new foreign ownership limit, Vietjet will be one step closer to listing on an overseas stock market.

To cater to the growing demand of air travel in Vietnam and the region, Vietjet is keen to raise more funds as it speeds up fleet expansion. It also plans to increase 36 international routes by 2019 from the current 23. The carrier also plans to raise its charter capital to over 4.5 trillion dong ($198.4 million) from 3 trillion as of February.

VinaCapital chief investment officer Andy Ho says that listed companies, such as Vietjet, are expected to lift or remove the ceiling on foreign ownership to improve transparency as well as to enhance the company’s competitiveness.

However, some experts warn that Vietjet might face resistance from the authorities as the low cost carrier currently depends on domestic passengers who account for more than half of its total passengers. The company has quickly grown to become the second largest carrier in the market, five years after its first commercial flight.

According to the latest reports, Vietjet generated 27.5 trillion dong in revenue, and 2.5 trillion dong in net profit in 2016, year-on-year increases of 38% and 113% respectively. Earnings per share expanded 62% to 9,586 dong.

Vietjet share closed at 134,000 dong apiece on Wednesday.

(Nikkei)

Nikkei Inc.

One thing is certain: Indonesia and tax (Economist)

Sat, 01 Apr 2017 12:29:00 +0800

Today is the deadline for tax cheats to come clean under a government amnesty. More than 800,000 people participated in the scheme, launched in July, declaring 4,700trn rupiah ($350bn) in previously concealed assets: equivalent to 40% of Indonesiaâ€™s GDP and 90% of the money supply. Only 30m people out of a labour force of 118m are on the tax register, and only 10m file a tax return regularly. At around 10% of GDP, Indonesiaâ€™s tax burden is one of the lowest in South-East Asia. The amnestyâ€™s terms were generous, so the government has so far collected additional revenue of just 125trn rupiahâ€”less than 3% of the assets declared. The OECD, a club of mostly rich countries, squawks that the amnesty simply rewards tax-dodgers. But the programmeâ€™s success should be measured by whether it sparks a lasting upturn in tax revenues, and puts new names on the tax register.