S'pore firm, Mitsubishi, Thai Bank form venture
S'pore firm, Mitsubishi, Thai Bank form venture
SINGAPORE (AFP): A Singapore government investment arm is teaming up with Japan's Mitsubishi Corp. and Thailand's Bangkok Bank in a joint venture to invest in promising young Asian companies, it was reported here yesterday.
The three will form a Singapore-based company, MC Private Equity Partners Asia, with an initial paid-up capital of US$100 million, according to Singapore's Business Times.
Temasek Holdings, the Singapore partner in the venture, is one of two cash-rich investment arms of the government. Mitsubishi is Japan's largest trading house, while Bangkok Bank is one of Southeast Asia's largest banks.
Temasek spokesmen had no immediate comment on the report.
The newspaper said the joint venture, expected to start operations next month, is likely to play an active role in the management of companies it invests in.
The venture plans to take a 20 percent stake in each project or company it wants to be involved in, although this could be higher in some cases, with a focus on unlisted firms, the daily added, citing unnamed sources.
Potential targets include venture companies, real estate, privatization projects and infrastructure projects, it said.
The high-powered venture is part of a strategy by Singapore, officially classified as a developed nation this month, to strengthen its role as a regional economic player and join the "first league" of industrial nations.
The Economic Development Board last week said Singapore will step up ventures with foreign firms as part of a "regionalization" program to build an external wing to the city- state's economy, constrained by a small land area and tight labor pool.
Last year, Temasek joined the multinational Lazard banking group and the Agnelli family of Italy to set up an investment fund aimed at China, Indochina and Southeast Asia.
Singapore's other investment arm, the Government of Singapore Investment Corp. (GIC), is also active overseas, recently joining a consortium bidding for a massive commercial property development in Hong Kong.
Temasek and GIC have jointly invested $250 million in a fund to invest in Asian infrastructure projects.