Temasek Holdings

[cyclone]

Singapore’s Temasek Considers Stakes in HNA Units Swissport and Gategroup

By Joyce Koh , Vinicy Chan , and Manuel Baigorri
April 11, 2018, 6:24 PM GMT+8 Updated on April 12, 2018, 9:14 AM GMT+8

Temasek Holdings Pte is studying potential investments in Swissport Group and Gategroup Holding AG, both owned by HNA Group Co., as it considers deals with the indebted Chinese conglomerate, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Temasek, which inked a partnership with the Chinese group this week, is exploring buying stakes in a number of HNA affiliates that are complementary to its portfolio companies, the people said. It may reach agreements on some of the potential deals as soon as the third quarter depending on the pace of negotiations, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Swissport’s bonds jumped by a record.

Swissport offers ground and cargo handling services at airports, while Gategroup is an airline caterer. SATS Ltd., a Singapore-listed company whose biggest shareholder is Temasek, runs similar operations. Temasek is also studying a variety of other investments in HNA units, the people said.

More details in https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...port-units

[dreamybear]

Although it is good that Temasek supports our own SG entrepreneurs, I am not sure whether it is a good idea to invest so much money in a company which only sells 200,000 gaming chairs thus far. Although Secretlab may be fast-growing as mentioned below, the article did not mention its profitability.

I feel it is too early at this stage to tell if the business model / cash flow is sustainable. Looking at the performance of Razer Inc(1337.HK), I wonder ....

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Temasek's Heliconia takes stake in homegrown gaming chair brand Secretlab
Tue, Aug 13, 2019 - 12:30 PM

TEMASEK-OWNED Heliconia Capital Management is taking a minority stake in homegrown gaming chair brand Secretlab, in a deal estimated at S$200 to S$300 million.

This is the first outside investment for Secretlab, which was founded in 2014 by former professional gamers Ian Alexander Ang, 27, and Alaric Choo, 31.

Secretlab joins the ranks other young and fast-growing companies backed by Heliconia, which include gaming hardware manufacturer Razer and mixed martial arts company ONE Championship. Heliconia’s mandate is to identify and support Singapore-headquartered companies to become globally competitive companies.

Heliconia's backing will boost Secretlab’s research and development initiatives, procurement of supply chain, and ability to attract talent and global partnerships that will take it to the next level, said the company in a media release on Tuesday.

With just over 60 staff in Singapore, Secretlab’s chairs are sold in over 50 countries, with over 200,000 sold to date. Secretlab was also among the winners of the Emerging Enterprise Awards in 2017, jointly organised by OCBC Bank and The Business Times.....

More details : https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sme/tem...-secretlab

[karlmarx]

Best not to take these guys too seriously. 

I often wonder how ostensibly CFA-accredited analysts with 'many years of investment experience,' employing 'rigorous due diligence processes' can make such decisions. 

===

International new wire Reuters reported in April that Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek  – together with Britain’s Metric Capital – invested $200 million for a 17% stake in Turkey’s Dogus Restaurant Entertainment and Management (D.ream) – a conglomerate that has 42 restaurants to its name.


D.ream is perhaps best known for the Nusr-Et steakhouse chain became extremely hyped up last year after restaurant owner Nusret Gokce “Salt Bae” shot to fame after a video of him cutting a slab of meat and sprinkling salt with a flourish in his signature style went viral.

The hyped restaurant chain, however, has drawn flak for being a “ripoff” and has accumulated poor reviews from several customers and food reviewers alike. The New York Post was one such publication that wrote in a restaurant review that the dishes at the “underwhelming” restaurant were “overpriced”.

...

Today, these concerns are edging ever closer to becoming a reality as D.ream’s parent company Dogus Group faces severe debt restructuring woes, barely four months after the wealth fund sunk $200 million into its subsidiary.

http://theindependent.sg/parent-company-...n-into-it/

[dreamybear]

I often wonder how ostensibly CFA-accredited analysts with 'many years of investment experience,' employing 'rigorous due diligence processes' can make such decisions.

I like the way you put it, I cldn't help smiling.  

Incidentally, I had wanted to leverage on the due diligence of the analysts(since I do not have the CFA nor any associated qualifications) regarding the Bayer investment by Temasek. As Bayer's share price had corrected further since Temasek's investment, I thought a world class German life sciences / pharmaceutical wld be a good addition to my global portfolio.

But in the end, I decided to pass.

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Temasek on poor performance of Bayer’s shares: We’re confident of its future prospects
2019-07-13

The Fifth Person, an independent investment website which won the SGX Orb Awards last year, sent a person to attend the   
recent media event of Temasek Holdings which presented its fund’s performance over the last FY ended on 31 March 2019.

One of the things Temasek was asked, was with regard to its investment into German pharmaceutical giant Bayer.

It was reported that Bayer sold 3.6 per cent stake to Temasek for 3 billion euros at 96.77 euros per share in Apr last year. The money was used as part of Bayer’s plan to takeover Monsanto, a U.S. company. Together with its existing holding in Bayer at the time, Temasek owned about 4 percent in Bayer after the transaction. By June 2018, with Temasek’s help, Bayer successfully acquired Monsanto to become the biggest seed and agricultural chemical maker in the world.....

When asked about Bayer, the Head of Americas John Vaske replied saying that their investment in Bayer was “underwritten by a long-term thesis that still remains intact today”. It plays to two of the six structural trends that Temasek has identified, namely sustainable living and longer lifespans.

In addition, Bayer has largely met the Temasek team’s initial assumptions and projections, which gives them confidence, Vaske added.

Vaske noted that the decline in Bayer’s share prices is a “function of the uncertainty surrounding the litigation case”.

As an investor focused on the long term without immediate capital needs, Temasek is able to look past the uncertainty surrounding the litigation issue and focus on the company’s long-term potential, Vaske said, replying on behalf of Temasek.....


More details : https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2019/07...prospects/

[karlmarx]

I am also long-term investor. If my position is in the red, I get upgraded to very long-term investor.

Jokes aside, Temasek's large portfolio severely reduces the companies that are available for purchase to only the very large companies.

Temasek has to invest like WB, but it is not WB. It is many teams of many analysts.

When investment responsibility is spread across the organisation, targeted returns are low, and the skill required is WB, it is not surprising that results are often mediocre, at best.

Though I believe Temasek does not invest solely for investment returns, and may perhaps put money where they believe will, directly or indirectly, support national agenda/objectives.

[blackclock]

Karl is right to say about supporting national agenda. the loss-making investment in UBS, probably resulted in UBS setting up their Asia HQ at Parkmall.
So they may need to take some losses, for the benefit of the country.

Regarding the investment into local chair maker, Heliconia, IMO is for show.
To show public that they support SME, in time when MNC are fleeing. Temasek probably pledge $200m, which will only be spent, IF Heliconia hit their stringent sales target. It's just like telling you, I will pay you $1 billion, if your sales cross $10 billion.

[dreamybear]

The BT article below is a premium article. I thought some of their investments wld raise an eyebrow.

As discussed in earlier posts, the investments probably need to support a national agenda, rather than just financial performance.  It can consider hiring dreamybear; other than job creation for ordinary Singaporeans, bear is able to recommend net cash/profitable/growing S'pore companies*(and add $ to the national coffer)  e.g. MM, Propnex, Best World etc to it.    

*Heliconia is already invested in HRnet Grp.

I just thought that as an investment firm, its primary focus shd be on returns, afterall, it's the country/citizens' money(I think not every Singaporean may agree that taking some losses for the purpose of the national agenda is acceptable, as seen for e.g. by some questioning the need to spend so much on foreign students). Promoting the national agenda can be done via other entities like EDB instead(e.g. in terms of interest free loan).

Heliconia's investment include Razer, Secret Lab, One Championship, Kimly, Jumbo, Mencast, Sanli Env etc.
http://www.heliconiacapital.com/DirectIn...anies.aspx
http://www.heliconiacapital.com/InvestmentTeam.aspx

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Heliconia's assets under management tops S$1b, and it's still on the prowl
Tue, Oct 08, 2019 - 5:50 AM

TEMASEK unit Heliconia Capital has amassed more than S$1 billion worth of assets under management, and has "significant" dry powder to deploy to growth companies that can take Singapore to the global stage, its top executive told The Business Times.....