Mergermarket M&A Forum - Southeast Asia 2022
The premier M&A forum in Southeast Asia
The Westin Singapore and Online
Agenda
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Southeast Asia market outlook
Southeast Asia had a record year in 2021, with over US$160 billion worth of deals, according to Dealogic data, being driven by large technology companies’ listings and supply chains shifting away from China. Although significant macro challenges lie ahead, the region’s compelling growth story is fueling a strong wave of M&A activity, and dealmakers who are coming out stronger from the pandemic are well placed to capitalise on the opportunities. Our panel of leading advisors will discuss the current trends, top transactions, and deal flow in the year ahead.
- Are we expecting more headwinds, and can a changing macro environment halt the deal momentum?
- What are the current trends in Southeast Asian M&A, and where are the deals coming from?
- Which are the next big sectors, and how should corporate and financial investors approach these opportunities?
- What is the outlook for the rest of 2022?
Networking break
Private equity in Southeast Asia dealmaking
Southeast Asian dealmaking has always been dominated by family conglomerates; however, with the influx of private equity funds and the ever-growing market, slowly but surely, private equity is becoming a stronger force for M&A activity in the region. Partnerships involving private equity and family-owned conglomerates have historically been few and far between, but this trend may see a shift as business owners assess various strategies to combat the after-effects of the pandemic. This panel explores the opportunities in the region for financial investors, as well as what type of relationships can be cultivated between private equity and corporates going forward to open the way for private equity.
- How has the influx of private equity players impacted the regional M&A landscape?
- Which up and coming sectors are capturing the interest of financial investors?
- How is private equity perceived by larger conglomerates in the region, and are there opportunities to work together?
- How difficult is it to source deals in the region?
A roadmap for navigating the regulatory challenges
Regulatory changes seem to be on the rise, including measures such as protectionism, anti-trust, data privacy, cybersecurity, and responsible investment to name a few. A changing macro environment, along with a global push against big tech and ever-increasing geopolitical tension, are just some of the catalysts that are driving decision makers to develop new regulations. Our expert panel will look at how SPAC listing rules, ESG compliance, and data privacy are creating a new playing field, and how these regulatory trends are affecting investors.
- What regulatory trends are proving to be most challenging to navigate?
- What sectors are benefiting from the changes?
- How are data, privacy, and cybersecurity regulation shaping the conversation?
- How does foreign ownership regulations impact deals?
Networking lunch
Finding cross-border opportunities
Southeast Asia is a region with significant potential, and the year-on-year growth in cross-border dealmaking is indicative of a greater opportunity for locally-based and offshore companies. Looking set to benefit from global supply-chain realignment, the digital transformation and strong consumer play make it an attractive destination for deals. Our panel of experienced investors and dealmakers outline the driving forces for cross-border activity and discuss hotspots in the region.
- What types of opportunities are overseas investors looking for in the region?
- What are some of the challenges for cross-border investors when conducting due diligence on Southeast Asian targets, and how do these differ from country to country?
- Which sectors are seeing the most activity from investors?
- What are the key hurdles dealmakers face when executing a transaction in the region?
Managing risk in M&A
Under the current volatile and uncertain external environment, dealmaking in 2022 comes with additional risk. Therefore, corporates must be well-positioned to counteract these threats, whether it is through comprehensive due diligence work, risk planning, or appropriate forms of transaction insurance. This panel will examine the risks associated with M&A in the current climate, as well as the strategies to mitigate them.
- What can businesses do to ensure that they are risk-ready?
- What are the top external risks against dealmaking in the year ahead?
- How do you manage geopolitical and financial risk?
- How can companies avoid data and cyber security breaches?
Networking break
Technology deals - the main driver for growth
Southeast Asia’s digital economy is fueling business growth and providing opportunities for strategic and private market investors to pursue deals brought about by digital transformation in the region. The IPOs of some of the biggest tech companies in Southeast Asia have enhanced the attractiveness of the region as a viable tech ecosystem. Our expert panel of investors share their views on the best strategies to capitalise on this vast potential.
- What are the digital opportunities emerging post-pandemic?
- How active is corporate venture capital, and what role do they play in the ecosystem?
- What are some challenges of investing in this sector, and how does one navigate them?
- What is the preferred method of exit?
The rise of ESG in M&A
As decarbonisation and tackling climate change becomes a global conversation, applying ESG considerations in dealmaking is now a key factor in the quest for a more sustainable way of doing business whilst illustrating commitment to environmental issues, diversity, and supply-chain goals. Companies must change the way they approach potential acquisitions from the due diligence, financing, and risk perspective, and be prepared to walk away if ESG considerations might impact on the valuations and sustainability of the potential target. Lenders are affected as well, with sustainability-linked loans in 2021 up 79% year-on-year according to Debtwire. Against this backdrop, an expert panel will examine the impact of ESG on M&A practices, as well as how to future proof the approach to deals.
- Is ESG a game changer when it comes to dealmaking?
- How are corporations dealing with regulation and compliance?
- Is shareholder activism on the rise, and how does it affect dealmaking?
- How are lenders affected, and does that impact some sectors?
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Romaine is developing a regional strategy from Singapore to execute commercial initiatives to serve Investment Banks with a focus on Emerging Markets. Domain expertise in Leveraged Capital Markets, ECM and M&A. Capital Markets contributor to CNBC, Yahoo Finance & Fox Business Network. Opened a new regional office in Singapore in 2017 and consulted IB Management Committees across SE Asian and Global investment banks to provide insights, strategic content, benchmarking evaluation and wallet share analysis. Executed commercial growth initiatives for Southeast Asia with business oversight across core ION-Analytics brands: Dealogic, Mergermarket, Debtwire & Infralogic. Romaine is currently completing his MBA with Warwick Business School at the Shard Campus in London and is a two-time British National American football champion.
Aik Kor is the Chief Executive and a Commissioner of the Competition & Consumer Commission of Singapore.
Aik Kor has served in various positions in the public sector, including as a Justices’ Law Clerk to the Chief Justice and Judges of the Supreme Court, Assistant Registrar at the Supreme Court, Deputy Public Prosecutor, District Judge of the Subordinate Courts, and the Official Assignee & Public Trustee at the Insolvency and Public Trustee’s Office at the Ministry of Law. From 2005 to 2010, Aik Kor was seconded to then Competition Commission of Singapore, where she served as its first Director (Legal & Enforcement).
Aik Kor read law at the London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London and holds a Masters of Law from Harvard Law School.
Miranda Zhao joined Natixis in 2019 as Head of Mergers & Acquisitions, Asia Pacific, Corporate & Investment Banking. Miranda is responsible for leading the development of M&A activities for the Asia Pacific platform, working closely with the bank’s in-house teams as well as its network of boutiques in the region and globally.
Miranda has extensive investment banking experience across Asia Pacific and Europe, with a strong focus on cross-border mergers and acquisitions.
Her most recent role prior to joining Natixis was as Head of Mergers & Acquisitions at China Everbright Capital Limited. Prior to that, she works for various global investment banks, including Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and The Royal Bank of Scotland/CIMB.
Alvin spent over 14 years of experience in investment banking as well as other industries. He is an Executive Director of M&A for Investment Banking, Southeast Asia at UBS. He has been with UBS since 2019.
He has worked in UBS and Nomura in Singapore and Hong Kong and focuses on origination and execution of M&A transactions across industry sectors in the Asia Pacific.
Prior to that, he worked at Huawei Technologies and Alcatel-Lucent in Hong Kong and the UK.
Alvin holds an Master of Business Administration from INSEAD and Bachelor of Civil Engineering from The University of Hong Kong.
As Head of M&A and Strategy, James supports all aspects of M&A and BD – from opportunity identification to execution and post-deal integration, including sourcing, qualification, financial modelling, due diligence and closing, and business development and integration activities. James works closely with the various business group leaders and Corporate Functions and support them in their strategy. James also leads IMC Ventures, the corporate venture arm of IMC.
Prior to joining IMC, James was with YCH Group, where he spearheaded YCH’s joint ventures and M&As across the group. He also led the group’s acquisition of warehouses across Asia Pacific and managed 15 logistic assets across 7 countries. James was also the Founding Partner of Supply Chain Angels, YCH’s Corporate Venture Capital vehicle which partners with SG Innovate and National Research Foundation.
James has more than 18 years of experience across various fields including private banking, private equity, and investment banking in institutions like DBS Bank, OCBC Bank, Oppenheimer Investments, and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services. Whilst at Oppenheimer Investments, James was the Head of Asia for 5 years and was instrumental in starting and growing the business for the group in Asia. He has successfully closed Project Finance deals more than US500mn across various industries like infrastructure, consumer goods and real estate. In addition, James also ran a family office which invested in healthcare, consumer goods, aged care, engineering, renewable energy, and childcare.
James graduated with a Masters in Business Administration from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Accounting and Corporate Finance from University of Western Australia. He is also a Certified Public Accountant (Australia). James also sits on the Board of Management of SPD (Formally known as Society for Physically Disabled) and has been an independent director of Singapore Exchange listed entity.
Romaine is developing a regional strategy from Singapore to execute commercial initiatives to serve Investment Banks with a focus on Emerging Markets. Domain expertise in Leveraged Capital Markets, ECM and M&A. Capital Markets contributor to CNBC, Yahoo Finance & Fox Business Network. Opened a new regional office in Singapore in 2017 and consulted IB Management Committees across SE Asian and Global investment banks to provide insights, strategic content, benchmarking evaluation and wallet share analysis. Executed commercial growth initiatives for Southeast Asia with business oversight across core ION-Analytics brands: Dealogic, Mergermarket, Debtwire & Infralogic. Romaine is currently completing his MBA with Warwick Business School at the Shard Campus in London and is a two-time British National American football champion.
Hajime Higuchi is International Head of M&A and a member of the Global Investment Banking Executive Committee at Nomura. He was previously Head of M&A for Europe, Middle East & Asia in London and Head of M&A for Asia ex-Japan in Hong Kong past decade combined prior to relocating to Singapore in 2020. Mr. Higuchi advised more than 200 M&A deals in the U.S., Europe, Asia and Japan including mergers, acquisitions, takeover offers, scheme of arrangements, MBOs, debt restructurings and defenses in Consumer, Retail, Automotive, Industrials, Logistics, Chemicals, Healthcare, TMT, FIG, and Power sectors. Mr. Higuchi previously worked for J.P.Morgan and MUFG and is a graduate from MIT Sloan School.
Dr. Lanyi is a senior Private Equity professional with 19 years of experience. Based in Singapore, he currently serves as a Managing Director at CDH Investments, where he co-leads CDH's Southeast Asian and global 'Cross-border' investment activities.
Established in 2001, CDH is one of the most well-established alternative assets fund management companies in China, managing close to US$20billion in client assets across different strategies and funds. The firm specializes in investment opportunities in the consumer and healthcare sectors.
Prior to joining CDH, Dr. Lanyi held senior roles at Mekong Capital and Templeton Private Equity. Dr. Lanyi lived in Vietnam between 2007-2012 and continues to manage CDH's office in HCMC.
Dr. Lanyi is the Chairman of the Singapore Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (SVCA).
Cyrus Driver is part of the Private Equity Technology business unit and cell leader for the Technology vertical based in Singapore. Is a member of the Private Equity Direct Leads Investment Committee and the Private Equity Direct Co-Investments in Technology Investment Committee as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the firm's portfolio companies CSS Corp., Guardian Early Learning and SPi Global. Cyrus has been with Partners Group since 2012, has 21 years of private equity investing experience and has served on the boards of ten portfolio companies. Prior to joining Partners Group, he worked at J.P. Morgan Partners (Private Equity, South and Southeast Asia) and Helix Investments (India Head, Private Equity). He holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
Prior to joining CVC in June 2016, Alvin spent over 11 years with HSBC where he was Head of Investment Banking for Southeast Asia. Prior to that, he worked for the investment banking division of Citigroup / Schroders for over 7 years in Singapore and the UK working on transactions across Asia and Europe. He started his career with the corporate finance division of Coopers & Lybrand. Alvin graduated from the London School of Economics with a BSc (Economics) degree specializing in accounting & finance and he is also a qualified Chartered Financial Analyst.
Jacqueline Chan is a partner in Milbank’s Singapore office who regularly represents many of the largest private equity and sovereign wealth funds, corporations, investment banks and financial institutions on high-value, complex M&A, acquisition finance, restructuring and private equity transactions in Asia and elsewhere. Jacqueline is consistently recognized by legal industry publications such as Chambers, Legal 500, IFLR, Euromoney and Best Lawyers as a leading lawyer in the fields of M&A, Banking and Finance, and Restructuring and many of the market precedent-setting transactions on which she leads receive “Deal of the Year” awards from leading industry publications.
Saurabh N. Agarwal joined Warburg Pincus in 2009 and is based in Singapore, where he relocated from New York in 2016 to focus on the firm’s investment activities in Asia. Prior to joining Warburg Pincus, Mr. Agarwal worked at McKinsey & Company in New Jersey and New Delhi, and Temasek Holdings in Mumbai. Mr. Agarwal is currently a Director of Advance Intelligence Group, Circles.Life, Converge ICT, MoMo Pay and Techcombank (HOSE:TCB), and previously served on the boards of several companies, including AAG Energy (HKG:2686), Competitive Power Ventures, Mosaic Inc., RimRock, RSEG Inc. and Trident. Mr. Agarwal holds a B. Tech. in Electrical Engineering and an M.S. in Microelectronics from IIT Bombay, and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Kapil Kirpalani is a Director and serves as KKR’s Chief Compliance Officer for the Asia-Pacific region. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Kirpalani was at HarbourVest Partners where he was responsible for the legal/compliance coverage of the funds, secondaries and direct co-investing businesses across Asia. He was previously with Pacific Harbor Capital (a Citigroup affiliate) where he covered a broad range of businesses including special situations, debt & equity investments. He began his career in private practice. Mr. Kirpalani holds an LL.B. (with honors), an LL.M. and has completed further business studies at the University of Cambridge.
Sarita is a transactional and technology lawyer practising in the areas of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), capital markets and technology law.
She is currently Senior Vice President, Global Legal at a major Asia-Pacific focused international healthcare company, where she acts as the legal lead for global M&A, capital markets and healthcare tech, and helps to fulfil the organisation’s purpose of providing affordable and accessible care for all in Asia Pacific. She also manages strategy for complex dispute-related matters and investigations, having originally "cut her teeth" as a litigator before moving into the corporate transactional world.
John is a Deputy General Counsel with pre- and post-listing experience covering fund raise, strategic M&A, commercial partnerships, regulatory issues, antitrust, FCPA/anti-corruption, insider trading, and taking Grab public on NASDAQ in December 2021. He is a corporate finance lawyer with local on-the-ground experience in APAC (including China and India), ASEAN and emerging Southeast Asian markets including Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia. John worked for Magic Circle firms in London, Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong. He is a Thai Chinese/Filipino native, fluent Thai speaker, casual Mandarin and Tagalog speaker.
At Grab, ASEAN’s Leading “everyday superapp” John's role includes Leadership & Mentoring as Deputy General Counsel and leads a team of 50 plus lawyers solving a range of issues including regulatory, day-to-day operations, corporate finance and strategic partners management issues. He mentors all Grab’s ASEAN heads of Legal and is a Trusted Advisor to Business as Head of Corporate Finance/M&A, Legal.
Landmark Deals includes taking Grab public on NASDAQ in December 2021 via an equity offering (SPAC and DeSPAC processes), including dealings with the SEC.
Nishtha is a distinguished technology & innovation focused lawyer with over 16 years of experience in handling complex legal and regulatory issues, particularly in the Asia region. She is presently the Chief Legal Officer at MBK Healthcare Management, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsui & Co with a mandate to grow the healthcare ecosystem of Mitsui with investments in leading healthcare providers such as IHH. She has been nominated among a select panel of UN WIPO’s Neutral (Arbitrator/Mediator) in Asia. Previously, in her role of Legal Director, ASEAN, Japan & Korea at Reckitt, she managed legal affairs contributing towards innovative solutions to people’s everyday challenges in the arena of health and well-being.
As Legal Head of Asia for another dynamic, US head-quartered health-tech company, Carestream Health Inc, a portfolio company of a USD44-Billion private-equity firm, Onyx, she successfully contributed to the company’s journey to become the Asia’s preferred innovative solution provider in the digital health space. Prior to joining Carestream, she was the in-house counsel and Data Privacy Officer at Philips Electronics Pte Ltd for ASEAN and South-East Asia operations and lead lawyer for Philips Innovation and Development Asia. She started her career as a dispute lawyer of world’s leading dispute law firm, Herbert Smith where she worked on some of the most complex cross border disputes. She was one of the youngest to be appointed as co-head of India desk at Herbert Smith’s Singapore office. She has also held Board position in the Singapore chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), one of the world’s largest professional association of in-house counsels.
A prominent thought leader and avid contributor to public policy debates shaping the future of health- tech, intellectual property, data privacy and use of AI by legal sector, Nishtha has been speaking and moderating at various international conferences. She has been mentoring start-ups and acting as an evangelist to help shape the digital future of the legal profession.
She graduated with First Class Honours (LL.B) and also holds a Masters’ degree in law. She has completed Executive Programs on Strategy and Negotiations at Harvard University, Strategic Management Program from NUS Business School. She feels strongly about charitable causes and utilizing creative arts as a medium for contributing to society. To this end, she has directed numerous plays, scripted and directed a music album with an aim to raise funds for blind school children and for palliative care children in Singapore. She is ever willing to be a drop in an ocean called change for good!
Lifen is Director, Investments Legal for the OMERS Capital Markets business in Asia. She is responsible for the legal affairs of OMERS Capital Markets Asia and is a member of the investment team.
Prior to her current role, Lifen was General Counsel at a private credit investment firm. She was a lawyer for over a decade at Allen & Overy and Ashurst in London and Singapore, focusing on complex cross-border financings and restructurings. She completed client secondments to Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered Bank in London and Singapore. Earlier in her career, she was a Business Analyst at McKinsey & Company.
Lifen has a BA and MA in Law from Jesus College, University of Cambridge. She is admitted as a lawyer in England and Wales and Singapore.
Ranga currently leads M&A and Business Development in the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa region for Electrolux AB, a leading global appliance company headquartered in Sweden. In prior roles, Ranga has led M&A transactions for Amcor Limited (global leader in rigid and flexible packaging) and Olam International (international food and agri-commodities company). Ranga is a seasoned M&A and business development professional having closed well over 20 M&A transactions globally, with a focus on emerging markets across Asia, Africa and the Middle East. He has extensive experience in identifying, completing and integrating acquisitions across multiple industry sectors.
Ranga has completed the Post Graduate Programme in Management from the Indian School of Business and is a Chartered Accountant. He is currently based in Singapore.
Anirudh has 15 years of experience across management consulting, investment banking and corporate development, with a focus on the healthcare sector. Currently, Anirudh is the Head of Corporate Development & Strategy at Amplify Health ). In this role, he is responsible for leading all investment activities, joint ventures and business partnerships to accelerate the expansion of the business operations in Asia.
Before joining RSDH, Anirudh worked with Credit Suisse in Singapore. He was a Director in the Southeast Asia Corporate Finance team and involved in the origination and execution of M&A, financing and capital market transactions. He was also responsible for leading healthcare client coverage in the Southeast Asia region. Previously, he was with Credit Suisse in New York as a Vice President in the Healthcare Investment Banking Group. Prior to Credit Suisse, Anirudh was a management consultant with PRTM / PricewaterhouseCoopers in their U.S. Life Sciences Industry Group.
Anirudh received a Master of Business Administration degree with concentrations in Finance and Accounting from The University of Chicago, Booth School of Business and earned a Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Ryan Wei is the Chief Business Officer and a board director at BOGA Group, one of Indonesia’s largest and most recognized F&B groups, leading growth strategy, digital transformation, new business creation and corporate finance. In spare time he acts as a Venture Partner in impact investing with Bali Investment Club.
He was a former Partner and chief strategist at an Indonesian house of brands from F&B to lifestyle services, and previously the Head of APAC in Global Development at RBI (Burger King, Popeyes and Tim Hortons coffee backed by 3G Capital), leading new market expansion across Asia-Pacific.
A serial entrepreneur and former founder, Ryan was the founding team of one of Indonesia’s largest B2B eCommerce marketplaces in consumer goods, and previously the UK MD / Head of China at a cross-border PE and M&A boutique. Prior to that, he spent a decade in PE investing with Partners Group and Actis, focused on growth equity and buyouts, plus some LP fund investments first in Europe then Asia.
During early career, he worked in Big Tech, central bank and derivatives trading. He is a graduate of London Business School and University of Toronto with high distinction.
Raj is currently the Head of M&A at Circles Life’s telco software business scouting for investments and acquisitions across the globe. Circles Life is backed by marquee investors like Sequoia, Warburg Pincus, and Cisco. Circles’ telco operating software enables running a fully digital Telco at an exceptionally low cost. Prior to Circles, Raj spent many years as an investment professional in Growth Private Equity – Investing in technology, education, financial services, and consumer businesses in the US and Asia. Raj served as a board member in portfolio companies of private equity funds he was part of – Kaizenvest, Guggenheim Capital, and Helix Investments.
Lucien is currently based in Singapore as the Director of M&A and Corporate Development for Jebsen & Jessen Group. In this role, Lucien supports the Executive Board in driving new business opportunities in the form of M&A and other investments, as well as spearheading Corporate Development and other aspects of the Group's 'Advance & Build' Strategy.
Prior to this current role, Lucien had a successful tenure as General Manager of JJ-LAPP (JJ subsidiary) in the Philippines from 2018 to 2021, during which he led the company in achieving the LAPP Asia Pacific Excellence Award 2019/20. Prior to joining Jebsen & Jessen, Lucien held various business development roles across South East Asia including roles with Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and U.S. State Department.
Lucien obtained his MBA from INSEAD and studied at The Wharton School. He currently serves as the Co-President of INSEAD Alumni Association in Philippines.
Vivek Chhabra is a Chartered Accountant with more than 30 years experience in FMCG.
From 1985, Mr. Chhabra spent 10 years with RJR Nabisco's food business in India and in Singapore.
From 1995, for almost 20 years Mr. Chhabra was with Heineken's Asia Pacific Joint venture, initially as Country Finance Manager in Papua New Guinea and in Vietnam and then as Finance Director for Asia Pacific.
From 2004 to 2014, Mr. Chhabra was Director Regional Business Development when he spearheaded the group's entry into several emerging and frontier markets across Asia Pacific via greenfield production, M&A, joint venture, etc. In all, Mr. Chhabra completed more than 20 transactions valued at USD 1.25 billion. From 2007, Mr. Chhabra was also the Regional Director for South Asia overseeing the 3 plants in South Asia.
Mr. Chhabra joined Thai Beverages/Fraser & Neave in 2015 and has worked as CEO of the soft drinks business in Thailand before returning to Singapore in March 2017 to head the M&A function for the region.
Mr. Chhabra has received awards from governmental bodies in Vietnam and India and has also been a member of World Bank/IFC Private Sector Reform program in Vietnam, the Industry and Finance sub-committee of the GPC in Singapore and was the Vice Chairman of the South Asia Business Group in the Singapore Business Federation.
Alex is currently VP Strategy & Development, Asia Pacific for Amcor, a $15 billion ASX-listed global leading supplier of flexible and rigid plastic packaging to well-known FMCG and Pharma brands. Before seconded to the current management role, he was Vice President, Head of Asia M&A when he completed nine acquisitions and led numerous others in Emerging Asia and Middle East/Africa for Amcor.
He has over 15 years of experience in leading M&A transactions and managing acquired businesses in Asia as corporate & financial owner and as advisor. He launched the ex-Japan Asia private equity investment business of leading Japanese buyout fund Advantage Partners and closed several investments that generated attractive capital gain for the fund. While at Coca-Cola and McKinsey Asia Corporate Finance Group, he led transactions of various sizes across Asia. He also advised private equity funds and corporations in Europe and Asia on investment and post-merger restructuring during his tenure at Bain & Company.
Eng Seng works in the Group Strategy Department of Sime Darby Berhad and is in the business of strategy formulation, business development and executing investments for the Group.
He started his career as a lawyer but decided to pursue his passion in strategy and investments, by first joining a local merchant bank and subsequently the Investments Team of Sime Darby. He has 10 years experience as an investment professional and has evaluated and implemented deals ranging from acquisitions, listings to reverse takeovers. His focus areas are in Motors and Heavy Equipment.
He graduated with a LLB from the University of London and is a CFA Charterholder
Benjamin Mah combines both business and technology innovation via building eco-systems across multi and inter disciplinary industry specialising in banking, insurance, fintech, cyber and physical security
Over 25 years of technology software business and managed cloud services, Benjamin pioneered digital transformation and cybersecurity technology innovation ranging from hardware processors, operating system, middleware, network, applications and mobile. A techno purer who co-founded of V-Key, a digital security technology invested by ANT Financial and held multiple senior management positions in global companies including Oracle, IBM, and CA in key regional leadership roles, droving a large part of the core security software business and established new business units. A trusted Singapore government board member, national research foundation technology, manpower development, venture capital and digital economy advisor
Rafael Lam is a partner in our Financial Services practice. He is based in Singapore.
With more than 10 years in management consulting, Rafael has significant experience advising clients on various topics spanning strategy, digital platforms, commercial excellence, and operating model, as well as leading diligence and value creation efforts. He is also an expert on our proprietary Micro-battles System.
His recent work includes corporate and business unit strategy, sales model design, and digital business model and platform development for a range of banks and insurers across Southeast Asia.
Rafael holds an MBA from INSEAD and a double bachelor’s degree in Accountancy and Business Management from the Singapore Management University.
Nazier Ariffin supercharges founders who are creating vital change through the country’s largest telco, Telkomsel‘s strategic fund and has almost 7 years in venture capital, corporate transformation and portfolio management, with more than 50 investments including Gojek, Halodoc, Bukalapak, Kredivo & SiCepat.
Nazier is leading the overall global strategic investment activities to focus on early-to-growth equity stage startups, and was instrumental in the creation of Indonesia’ premier sovereign venture fund, Merah Putih.
He does walks-and-talks with radio podcast Startup Hour, and established initiatives including GnB Accelerator and Startup World Cup. He is also a mentor at several incubators and accelerator programs including Purwadhika, 1000Startup, Indigo and Silicon Valley’s Cognity Labs.
Manisha is the CFO of momo, Vietnam’s leading e-wallet company. As part of the senior management team, her responsibilities include the finance, human resources, capital raising and investor relations. Over the last 20 years she has worked in corporates or advised clients in over 25 countries across the telecom, media, technology, financial services and auto sectors. She has worked at JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, TVS & Sons, Vodafone, and the World Bank. Manisha was born in Pittsburgh, USA and grew up in Mumbai, India. She completed her undergraduate studies at Colgate University where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a dual major in Economics and Asian Studies and received an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Prior to his current role at WeDoctor, Jeff served as the Group Chief Innovation Officer of Fullerton Health. Prior to that, he was the Chief Strategy Officer of WeDoctor. Before joining WeDoctor, Jeff was the Head of Technology Investment Banking for Asia Pacific at HSBC, where he was in charge and led all the TMT transactions across the region and a Senior Director with Credit Suisse Hong Kong’s TMT investment banking team. His coverage focused on capital raising for internet companies and traditional technology M&A transactions across Asia Pacific.
Jeff graduated from the University of Southern California in 2003 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.
Kenneth Low joined SoftBank Venture Asia in December 2020 as a Principal. Prior to joining Softbank in 2020, Kenneth was most recently an Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) with 500 Startups, helping to guide technology start-ups to grow and scale within the Southeast Asia region. Previously, he was the co-founder and COO of Club Alacarte, a consumer lifestyle coupon subscription app in Indonesia. Prior to forming Club Alacarte, Kenneth worked for more than 13 years as an investment banker in Hong Kong, New York and Singapore.
Arnaud is the Founder & Managing Director of Black Mangroves. He helps people and organizations unlock opportunities within startup ecosystems. His first product, Map of the Money supports Southeast Asian entrepreneurs to raise capital.
As a B2B angel investor, he has co-invested with marquee investors such as Accel, Atomico, Felicis Ventures, IA Ventures, Jungle Ventures, STRIVE, Upfront and Wavemaker.
He is also a Super Scout at AWS, All-Star Mentor at Techstars, and Bootcamp Instructor & EiR at INSEAD.
He was previously with INSEAD and 500 Global (f.k.a. 500 Startups).
Jeffery is the Group General Counsel; Chief Sustainability Officer; Director of Legal & Corporate Affairs; and Company Secretary since April 2016. He is responsible for legal, compliance, company secretarial, sustainability matters, communications and public affairs at the Group level. He is also the Chief Executive Officer and Company Secretary of MINDSET, a registered charity of Jardine Matheson in Singapore.
He was previously Group General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Board Secretary for UTAC Holdings Ltd. Prior to that, he has over 20 years of legal experience with Allen & Gledhill, DLA Piper, Siemens and Motorola. He was also President of Motorola Singapore for five years.
He is a Board Member of the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce, City Mental Health Alliance Singapore and One Mind Global Guiding Council.
Jeffery has an LLB (Honours) from the National University of Singapore. He is a senior Advocate & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore, and a senior Solicitor of England & Wales. He also completed the Senior Executive Management Program at Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management and the Driving Strategic Innovation Program by MIT’s Sloan School of Management and IMD
Tang Zongzhong is the Head of Sustainability for BPEA EQT. He is responsible for the overall sustainability strategy, and works with portfolio companies across multiple industries on sustainability risk mitigation and value creation. He is also currently serving on the ESG Committees at several global portfolio companies. Prior to joining BPEA, Mr. Tang was at Partners Group, where he was the regional head for ESG integration and impact investing in Asia Pacific. Before that, he was an Associate Director at Blackpeak in Singapore, where he oversaw fraud, bribery and corruption assignments, focused on Southeast Asia and Greater China. Mr. Tang holds an MA Global Affairs from Yale University and a BSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Alvin is the Head of Asia Environmental Products in the Commodities team within the Fixed Income Division at Morgan Stanley where he leads the development of Morgan Stanley’s environmental products franchise. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, he was a Vice President in the Enterprise Strategy team at GIC where he helped launch GIC’s Sustainable Investing initiatives, led the fund’s first investments into the carbon markets and authored several white papers on the environmental markets. Alvin is an equity analyst by training, having covered U.S. Semiconductors in New York, ASEAN Telecommunication and Internet companies in Singapore, and started his career as an analyst in Hong Kong. He graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a Major in Finance from the National University of Singapore, is a CFA, CMT and SASB FSA credential holder.