Mergermarket M&A Forum Southeast Asia 2023
The premier M&A forum in Southeast Asia
The Westin Singapore and Online
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Southeast Asia M&A: The year ahead
According to Dealogic data, Southeast Asia M&A deal value in 2022 dropped to US$86 billion, almost half of the 2021 value, reflecting the growing macroeconomic uncertainty in the financial markets. Notwithstanding the market challenges, there is still cause for optimism as corporate carveouts and distressed opportunities driven by the need of corporates to streamline operations could drive M&A activity. Our panel of leading M&A advisors will provide insights on dealmaking in 2023 and their pick of strategies to steer away from trouble.
How much is the macro environment affecting Southeast Asia’s corporate activity?
Which sectors offer the best opportunities for deals?
How much is the region benefiting from supply-chain re-alignment, and what opportunities does it create for deals?
What is the outlook for the rest of 2023 and beyond?
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Networking break
Private equity in Southeast Asia dealmaking
Amid significant economic headwinds and diminished M&A activity, private equity, which has been less affected by external market factors, continues to be a more reliable source of deals. Although deploying capital and returns might be more challenging, the opportunities for PE are there to be taken, albeit with an increased focus on operational efficiencies, value creation, and digitalisation. Our panel of leading private equity managers will share their views on the current market opportunities.
How big is the role of private equity in regional dealmaking?
Which emerging sectors are capturing the interest of private equity?
Is there more competition for assets between private equity and strategic buyers? Is there space for collaboration instead of competition?
What challenges are likely to affect deals?
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Networking lunch
Technology deals: Now and the future
Despite the difficult macroeconomic environment, tech activity in Southeast Asia remains robust. The booming ecosystem is not bullet-proof by any means, but the foundations of the digital economy in the region remain sound with significant room to grow in sectors such as financial services, digital health, and climate solutions. Our panel of technology dealmakers will discuss the opportunity set in the sector and what the future holds for the main growth engine in the region.
What is the outlook for tech activity in the region?
Which subsectors are most likely to shine?
Are the region’s stock exchanges becoming more attractive for listings? Which avenues for exits will dominate in 2023, if any?
Have corporate strategic priorities changed this year?
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Cross-border deals: Opportunities and challenges
Southeast Asia cross-border dealmaking has vast potential, and the region continues to draw significant interest from Japan, India, and China as strategic buyers and private equity look to strengthen their positions in existing markets and develop a presence in new ones. Our panel of experts will share their views on how to navigate cross-border transactions in the current climate and their pick of hotspots for the year.
Which sectors in the region are most attractive to overseas dealmakers?
How significant is the India-Southeast Asia linkup?
What markets in the region offer the best deal opportunities?
What are the key challenges for executing cross-border deals this year?
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Networking break
Sector focus: Healthcare-showing resilience
The healthcare sector is showing incredible resilience amid macro headwinds – especially digital health, which is playing an ever-increasing role in Southeast Asia’s burgeoning population. The outlook for deals remains strong, as in addition to existing opportunities, the region benefits from investors diversifying from other markets. Our expert panel will share their experiences of operating in this sector, including the role of digitalisation and the best tips for deal sourcing.
How robust is the sector, and where are the opportunities in 2023?
How significant is the role of digitalisation in the opportunity set?
What are they key challenges in executing deals this year?
What is the outlook for the sector?
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ESG and corporate strategy
Southeast Asia is vulnerable to the effects of climate change due to its geography, and as recognition of the associated risks increase, so too does the awareness of ESG. As ESG comes to the forefront of corporate strategy, businesses are changing the way they approach potential acquisitions from a due diligence, financing, and risk perspective. Our expert panel will look at the impact of ESG on corporate strategy and how this changes the approach to dealmaking.
What are the key ESG and stakeholder considerations in 2023? How might this change their dealmaking approach?
What can businesses do to ensure that they are on top of their regulatory and reporting requirements?
What are some examples of ESG-compliant assets that corporates are acquiring?
How can businesses access sustainability-linked financing?
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Yiqing Wang is the Managing Editor for M&A and ECM, APAC, at Mergermarket. Ms. Wang is leading a team of dedicated journalists across APAC regions to cover PE/VC fundraising, M&A transactions, PE buyouts and exits,etc.
She has been an investigative M&A reporter and researcher since 2009, writing industry news ranging from healthcare, new energy and financial service, etc.
Ms. Wang achieved her master's degree of multilingual multicultural studies from New York University.
Likha has been the Head of Southeast Asia coverage for Mergermarket since July 2022 after serving as deputy bureau chief for four years. A journalist for almost two decades, she has been with Mergermarket since 2014, starting as the Philippines correspondent, covering public finance, private and public capital markets, energy, infrastructure, natural resources, and antitrust. Prior to Mergermarket, she was the assistant business editor of Interaksyon.com, which was then the online news portal of TV5 in the Philippines, and the assistant business editor of The Manila Times.
She obtained her MA in Media Studies and BS in Development Communication from the University of the Philippines.
Eric Francia is the President and Chief Executive Officer of ACEN. Under his leadership, Ayala established its energy platform from a standing start in 2011, to become one of the largest renewable energy platforms in Southeast Asia, with ~4,000 MW of attributable renewables capacity.
Eric is also a Managing Director and member of the Management Committee of Ayala Corporation since 2009, and was appointed as Chairman of Ayala’s Investment Committee in 2021. He is also a Director of various Ayala group companies including AC Infrastructure, AC Health, AC Ventures, and as Chairman and CEO of ACE Enexor.
Eric earned a Master’s Degree in Management Studies at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, graduating with First Class Honors. He received his undergraduate degree in Humanities and Political Economy from the University of Asia & the Pacific, graduating magna cum laude.
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.
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.
Geoff joined Khazanah in September 2021 after spending over 30 years in various roles in the finance and investments industries in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. He was previously a partner at Hendale Capital, Head of Principal Investments at Korea Development Bank Asia, Head of Asian Investments at HSBC Alternative Proprietary Investments and Managing Director and co-founder of Myo Capital Special Situations Fund.
Prior to moving to the buy-side, he spent nearly a decade in investment banking, latterly as a Director of Telecommunication, Media and Technology and founding member of the Mergers & Acquisitions team at HSBC Investment Bank Asia.
Geoff is a UK Fellow Chartered Accountant and a graduate of the University of Manchester.
Mr Benny Lim is the Partner and Head of Southeast Asia for Affinity Equity Partners (“Affinity”), overseeing Affinity’s investment activities in Southeast Asia.
Mr Lim has more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry, of which he has spent more than 12 years in Affinity. He has led late-stage growth and buyout transactions across the consumer, healthcare and financial services sectors in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand for the firm.
Mr Lim received a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting from Monash University, Australia and is also a CFA charterholder.
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.
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).
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.
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.
Avnish Mehra is Vice Chairman and head of Everstone Capital, the private equity business of Everstone Group, which manages c. USD 7 billion of capital. He is also responsible for leading investments in the global technology, media and telecom sectors. Avnish is a member of the Investment Committee of Everstone Capital.
Prior to Everstone, he played a leading role as Senior Director in establishing the India business for Advent International, before which he was with Advent in Europe in the technology and media team. Avnish has also worked with leading firms in Asia and Europe, including HSBC, CIBC, ABN and Virgin Media. Avnish holds a Bachelor of Economics from St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi, with a Master of Economics from Cambridge. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charter holder from the CFA Institute in the USA.
At Everstone, Avnish is on the board of the following investee companies:
- MediaMint (HQ: India) – a technology led company focussed on outsourcing of advertising & media operations for global agencies, publishers & adtech platforms
- Cprime (HQ: California, USA) – a leading global Dev Ops & Agile technology consulting firm that provides implementation along with other technical services
- Everise (HQ: Singapore) – a technology enabled customer experience solutions provider serving the US healthcare and technology end markets with delivery centers across USA, Guatemala, Colombia and Philippines
- Omega Healthcare (HQ: Florida, USA) – a technology led company providing healthcare outsourcing solutions to healthcare insurance payers, providers and pharmaceutical firms with delivery centers across USA, India and Philippines
Dr. Deborah Elms is the Executive Director and Founder of the Asian Trade Centre (ATC) in Singapore. She is also President of the Asia Business Trade Association (ABTA) and the Board Director of the Asian Trade Centre Foundation (ATCF).
Dr. Elms is on the board of the Trade and Investment Negotiation Adviser (TINA) at the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific (UNESCAP). She is on the International Advisory Council for APCO (2021-Present) and was a member of the International Technical Advisory Committee of the Global Trade Professionals Alliance and Chair of the Working Group on Trade Policy and Law. She was also a member of the World Economic Forum’s Trade and Investment Council for 2018-2020.
Prior to founding ATC/ATCF and the ABTA, she was head of the Temasek Foundation Centre for Trade & Negotiations (TFCTN) and Senior fellow of International Political Economy at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
Dr. Elms received a PhD in political science from the University of Washington, a MA in International Relations from the University of Southern California, and bachelor’s degrees from Boston University.
She is the author of numerous articles, editor of several books, writes a bimonthly column for Borderlex, and regularly publishes the Talking Trade Blog at www.asiantradecentre.org/talkingtrade. Dr. Elms also routinely appears on television and in major newspapers and magazines around the world to comment on trade and economic issues. Dr. Elms is also makes frequent appearances at a range of global trade and economic workshops, conferences, capacity building sessions and negotiations.
At Openspace Ventures, Jessica leads OSV+, Openspace Ventures' mid-stage growth fund, and is a Director on the Investments team.
She has over 14 years of growth- and late-stage investment and corporate strategy experience across Asia Pacific. Her previous roles include leading the investment team in Southeast Asia for Providence Equity Partners – a global telecommunications, media and technology sector focused private equity fund. More recently, she headed Corporate Strategy & Business Development, APAC, for The Walt Disney Company, where she helmed key strategic initiatives and M&A across the region. Earlier in her career, Jessica worked in the Healthcare Investment Banking and Asia Debt Capital Markets teams at Citigroup.
Jessica holds a BA in Political Science from Barnard College, Columbia University.
Xue Gong is Assistant Professor and deputy coordinator of Master of Science in International Political Economy programme at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. She is also a Non Resident Scholar at Carnegie China. Dr Gong’s current research interests include International Political Economy, China’s economic diplomacy, regionalism and governance, and geoeconomics in the Indo-Pacific. Dr Gong has contributed to leading peer-reviewed journals such as the World Development, International Affairs, the China Review, the Pacific Review, Contemporary Southeast Asia, Harvard Asia Quarterly. She has two co-edited books on the Belt and Road Initiatives and several book chapters on China’s economic statecraft, China’s corporate social responsibility and Belt and Road Initiative in Southeast Asia. Dr Gong has also produced various op-eds, policy and working papers for international think tanks and media outlets.
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.
Lito Villanueva is the Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation and Inclusion Officer for RCBC. He is concurrently the Chief Digital Transformation Advisor for the Yuchengco Group of Companies. He led RCBC’s massive digital transformation with game-changing and award-winning inclusive finance innovations at scale recording exponential growth in gross transaction volume reaching up to four-digit year-on-year performance, and revenue compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of up to 135%. He introduced DiskarTech as the Philippines’ first muti-lingual financial inclusion super app in Taglish and Cebuano local languages offering 6.5% annual interest on digital savings. It generated over a million downloads in less than a month from its launch at the height of hard lockdown in July 2020. It was recognized as the breakout app in 2020 ranking #1 mobile finance apps in the Philippines, even beating GCash for four consecutive months. While its B2BC for mSMEs digital initiative ATM Go, the Philippines’ first community-based handheld POS ATM device and last mile payments network, has the most extensive reach covering all 82 provinces in the country with more than 1,000 partner-merchants.
With all these innovations, RCBC bagged a three-peat win as the Philippines’ Best Bank for Digital by the Asiamoney from 2020 to 2022, and a back-to-back recognition as having the Best Financial Inclusion App from the Financial Technology Awards by The Asian Banker, on top of over 70 regional and global digital awards.
Villanueva is also the founding chairman of Fintech Alliance.ph, a digital association of fintech players collectively generating over 90% of digital financial transactions in the Philippines, collaborating with policy-makers, regulators, and interest groups to promote a sustainable digital economy. He was also recently elected as the global chairman of the South Africa-based Alliance of Digital Finance Associations with membership from over 20 countries. He is also a Board director of the Blockchain Council of the Philippines.
He is the Philippines’ leading and award- winning thought leader on digital transformation and inclusive digital finance. He has over 25 years of experience in banking, telecommunications, payments, development finance, advisory, and financial technology. He has merited with over 80 global and regional awards, including being named one of the Top 100 FinTech Leaders in Asia, 2021 Chief Innovation Officer of the Year by London-based The Banker, Top 100 Filipinos on LinkedIn, Top 10 ASEAN Banking Leaders in Digital Reinvention, 2022 Global Filipino Executive of the Year Circle of Excellence, Outstanding Leadership Awardee 2022 by Money 2.0, and Mr. Fintech of the Philippines by BizNewsAsia, among others. These recognitions highlight Villanueva’s innovative digital contributions to the financial industry and impact on the country’s goal of widening bank access to Filipinos. He has a regular business column Bytes in the Philippine Star.
He released various publications including the award-winning three-volume Inclusive Digital Finance Report and the Uncharted Beyond: The Taxonomy of FinTech in the Philippines. He is also a member of the Inclusion Executive Committee of the Global Impact FinTech (GIFT) Forum. He is also the founding president of the BSP Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. Institute for Growth towards National Inclusion, Transformation, and Empowerment (IGNITE).
Finished the Cambridge Intellect Leadership Programme in 2019 on Digital Transformation by Design at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School Executive Education in the UK. Earned two graduate degrees: Master of Arts in Public Administration with magna cum laude honors from the University of Santo Tomas (UST), and Master in National Security Administration from the National Defense College of the Philippines as a state scholar, and its youngest graduate thus far. His undergraduate degree is in political science and also in UST. (as of 6 Feb 2023)
Alex Lega has recently served as the Senior Director of Corporate Development and M&A at Acronis, a global leader in cyber protection solutions for businesses and prosumers. Acronis counts 2000+ employees globally, 5 R&D centers and operates in over 45 data centers. The company is backed by Goldman Sachs, CVC, Blackrock and Sovereign Wealth Funds. During his tenure at Acronis, Alex played a pivotal role in driving the company's strategic agenda through a series of fundraising activities and strategic acquisitions (such as an EDR, a DLP provider, a PSA, a Cloud Management & Security solution...) and partnerships (Threat Intelligence, Email Security, Cyber Security Insurance...).
Under Alex's leadership, Acronis established a robust cross-functional M&A practice, enabling the company to expand its product capabilities and accelerate its global presence. His ability to identify and execute on key M&A opportunities has been critical in Acronis' M&A successes, and his strategic vision and ability to create innovative deal structures has helped align all stakeholders while positioning the company as a leader in the fast-evolving cybersecurity landscape.
Prior to that, Alex had a successful career in Banking and Corporate Advisory in both London and Singapore.
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.
Jatin heads strategic / principal investing for Citi APAC’s institutional businesses, and he invests in fintechs in the early and growth stages. Previously he was at Standard Chartered, running Corporate Development and Fintech investing / M&A for the bank across APAC. His past roles have involved work across minority investments, strategic acquisitions, divestments and inorganic strategy. His deals span various areas within fintech, including payments, digital assets, digital lending, SME financing and financial markets across Asia (mainly early and growth stage opportunities). Overall, he has worked across and executed a wide variety of venture and M&A transactions, with deal sizes ranging from $1m to $1bn.
Stanley is the Head of Business Development of Central Group Vietnam and responsible for property acquisition as well as business development for Central Group in Vietnam. He closed more than US$1.5Bn investments via M&A with Central Group Vietnam, amongst others are BigC Hypermarket, Lanchi Mart, Zalora and more than US$100Mn investments in properties and land bank. Before Central Group, he was with a US$250Mn Private Equity fund based in Vietnam.
Central Group Vietnam is investing and operating a nationwide multi-format retail chain in Vietnam such as hypermakets, supermarkers, consumer electronics, fashion brands and shopping malls.
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.
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.
Likha has been the Head of Southeast Asia coverage for Mergermarket since July 2022 after serving as deputy bureau chief for four years. A journalist for almost two decades, she has been with Mergermarket since 2014, starting as the Philippines correspondent, covering public finance, private and public capital markets, energy, infrastructure, natural resources, and antitrust. Prior to Mergermarket, she was the assistant business editor of Interaksyon.com, which was then the online news portal of TV5 in the Philippines, and the assistant business editor of The Manila Times.
She obtained her MA in Media Studies and BS in Development Communication from the University of the Philippines.
Pankaj Kalra joined Kotak Investment Banking in 2013 as Senior Executive Director. In July 2021, Pankaj relocated to Kotak Mahindra UK’s Singapore Branch to lead bank wide coverage of Singapore based companies and funds, which are focused on India. Pankaj continues to be closely involved with the Kotak Investment Bank in India, is part of the management committee and oversees coverage across infrastructure, digital and the Financial Sponsors Group.
Pankaj joined Kotak Investment Banking from Credit Suisse Securities India where he was a Managing Director in the Investment Banking Division from 2008 to 2012. At Credit Suisse, Pankaj was responsible for origination and execution of strategic advisory and capital market transactions for clients across the energy, power, telecom and diversified industrial sectors. Prior to Credit Suisse, Pankaj spent twelve years with Merrill Lynch’s Investment Banking team across Hong Kong, Singapore, London and Mumbai.
Pankaj is a highly experienced banker and has more than 25 years of investment banking experience in India and globally, advising on M&A and capital market transactions across a wide range of industries.
Some of the significant advisory transactions he has advised on include advising GIC and Cintra on the US$700 million investment in IRB Infrastructure, advising NHAI on the inaugural INVIT of US$650 million anchored by CPPIB and OTPP, advising Tata Chemicals on the $400 million sale of the urea business to Yara, advising American Tower on the US$1 billion acquisition of VIOM Networks, advising Netmagic on sale of 74% interest to NTT Communications, advising Vedanta PLC on its US$ 6.8 billion acquisition of Cairn India, advising Cairn India on sale of a 10% interest to Petronas, advising on the US$1.8 billion merger of Reliance Industries and IPCL, and advising Imperial Energy on its US$ 2.5 billion sale to ONGC Videsh. Major capital market transactions include the US$ 2 billion IPO of Cairn India, the US$ 525 million IPO of Adani Ports, the US$ 135 million IPO of Mercator Lines Singapore, the US$ 200 million convertible bond offering for Videocon Industries, the US$ 175 million IPO of Bharti Airtel, NYSE listings for ICICI and ICICI Bank, and Singapore listings for Singapore Airport Terminal Services and SIA Engineering Company, among many others.
Pankaj is a Chartered Accountant and an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Adrian is a senior member of Aon’s Asia transaction solutions practice, based in Singapore. Adrian has extensive experience in advising on W&I policies throughout Asia, including the successful implementation of W&I policies for several large multi-jurisdictional transactions spanning various sectors. Trained as an M&A lawyer, Adrian started his career in private practice: initially in Wong & Partners (member firm of Baker & McKenzie International), and subsequently joining Herbert Smith Freehills LLP as the first M&A associate in the then newly-opened KL office. After leaving practice and prior to joining Aon, Adrian served as Vice President in the Asia transaction liability practice of another market-leading insurance broker.
Dr Bernard Ng serves as the Chief Scientific Officer of Milltrust Ventures Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Milltrust International Group.
He is an angel investor and a successful professional in the field of medical and clinical affairs globally. He have had leadership roles with global and regional experience in the healthcare industry, leading teams in US, Europe and Asia. He was previously the Chief Medical Officer, Head of Medical Strategy and Clinical Development for Bayer Consumer Healthcare and an active proponent of leveraging digital technologies and data to create disproportionate value for healthcare professionals, patients and consumers with experience in leading digital transformation initiatives and due diligence for M&A.
Dr Ng was on the Investment Advisory Committee for the British Innovation Fund (BIF), partnering with the leading Universities and Centres of Innovation in the UK to build a successful portfolio of early-stage companies. Notable successes include Vaccitech, the University of Oxford AZ vaccine company which listed on NASDAQ in 2021. He also serves on the investment committee of Future Health fund, seeking to tap into the secular growth trends in healthcare by investing in high potential companies with a focus on the science of ageing and technology that enables early detection and management of illness, leading to better outcomes in the key areas of immunization, diagnostics, telehealth, medical devices, mental health, artificial intelligence and sustainable food & proteins
In addition to his Milltrust affiliations, Dr Ng is also the Chief Executive Officer Meta Health Ltd, a listed company on the Singapore exchange who has recently diversified into healthcare technology and services. He is also a visiting lecture with the Dept of Cancer & Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine at King’s College London. He sits on the advisory boards of promising startups like Oncoshot and Safespace.
Dr Ng obtained his Doctor of Medicine from the National University of Malaysia and his MBA from the University of Melbourne. He is a strong believer of the Disruptive Strategy model by the Clayton Christensen from Harvard Business School He also was in IMD, Lausanne for a digital transformation course to better understand the disruptive power of platforms in today’s competitive environment
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.
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!
Nav joined Novo Holdings Asia in August 2021 as Principal. He focuses on deal sourcing and execution as well as in managing and developing the growing portfolio of investments, focusing primarily on the markets in China, India, and Southeast Asia.
Prior to joining Novo Holdings Asia, Nav was a Director in Quadria Capital, a mid-market private equity firm focusing on healthcare investments in India and South East Asia. Before joining Quadria Capital, Nav was the Managing Director at Fosun, where he worked on both private and public healthcare investment opportunities across the Asia-Pacific region. Nav started his investment career with Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong and moved to UBS Global Asset Management in Singapore before joining Fosun.
Nav holds an MBA from Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, in India and Bachelor of Technology from Indian institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur in India.
Beia is the Chief Operating Officer of KonsultaMD, the Philippines’ largest healthtech company and most accessible primary care platform with over 2.5 million user base.
She played an instrumental role in establishing Ayala Corporation’s healthcare arm, AC Health, serving as Head of Strategy during its first few years. She led various portfolio investments, including Generika Drugstore, a national chain of over 800 community pharmacies. She eventually joined Generika’s Management Committee and led its Strategy, Innovation & Technology Management Group.
Beia is also a Board Director of AHCHI Pharma Ventures, Healthway Philippines and Vigos Ventures.
Beia completed her postgraduate studies in Strategy and Innovation at Oxford University. She earned her master’s degree in Finance and Investment at the University of Edinburgh, where she was a British Chevening Scholar. She received her undergraduate degree in Management of Applied Chemistry from the Ateneo de Manila University
Jana advises listed company boards and management teams on all aspects of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices and disclosures. Jana is one of Asia Pacific's leading experts in corporate governance and proxy research and has advised many large domestic and institutional investors. Jana was previously Director of Research, Australia for leading global proxy advisor, CGI Glass Lewis, and has deep expertise in engaging with ASX300 Boards of directors and executives. Jana is passionate about helping companies optimise their governance disclosures and enhance their investor relationships by applying best practice ESG. Jana maintains deep relationships with asset owners and managers that informs Morrow Sodali's advisory and engagement work.
Master of Professional Accounting - University of New South Wales; Master of Commerce, Funds Management - University of New South Wales; Graduate Degree in Finance, Banking and Investments - Technical University Kosice, Slovakia;GRI Certified; Member of the ICGN Human Capital Committee.
Currently editorial consultant to Dealreporter and director of Mergermarket Australia, Simon Segal established the Australian bureau of Mergermarket in 2005 where he was bureau chief and Asian editor of Dealreporter (2006-2009).
He has a PhD in the relationship between stakeholders and M&A which has been converted into a book Reframing Mergers and Acquisitions around Stakeholder Relationships: Economic, Political and Social Processes (Routledge Advances in Management and Business Studies). He has co-hosted the weekly Dealbook on the former Sky Business channel and has contributed M&A commentary to numerous Australian publications.
Simon has some 30 years experience in researching, editing, writing and commenting on financial issues, specialising in M&A since 2005.
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
Tanah Sullivan is the Group Head of Sustainability at GoTo and leads its environmental, social and governance (ESG) efforts across Gojek, GoTo Financial and Tokopedia. Before GoTo, Tanah was at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, where she led partnerships for a range of sustainability-focused initiatives in ASEAN and globally. She led the Forum’s efforts on issues such as energy transition, circular economy, food security, gender equality, deforestation and financial inclusion, among others.
Previously, Tanah held various public sector roles with the Canadian and Australian governments, covering international security, development, natural resource security as well as foreign trade and investment. Tanah holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Bond University and a Master of Political Economy from the University of Melbourne, Australia