Saturday, February 10, 2007, 1:15 pm – 2:30 pm
The current business environment has been described as a hotbed for private equity investing - high liquidity, cheap borrowing, strict regulations in the public markets. This boom has also extended into Asia where investing needs to be done in the context of a rapidly developing region. The various styles, opportunities and challenges are explored in this panel with speakers from a wide range of investing styles, including LBOs, strategic minority stakes and real estate across different Asian countries. Participants can expect a brief overview of each speaker's experiences and discussions on emerging trends.
Michael Thorneman is a partner with Bain & Company and is based in Shanghai. His main focus is serving corporate and private equity clients in China on strategy, performance improvement, organisation, M&A and investments. He is responsible for Bain & Company's Private Equity/M&A and Industrial practice in China. For Private Equity clients his work has covered commercial due-diligence, portfolio company performance improvement and fund strategy. He has extensive experience in a range of industries including Industrial Products, Transportation & Logistics, Automotive and Consumer Products. Michael holds an MBA from INSEAD, France, an MScEE from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, and an International Baccalaureate from United Nations International School, New York. He was awarded the Marcus Wallenberg Foundation Scholarship for his studies at INSEAD.
Chester is Global Editorial Operations Head of SPARX Investment & Research, USA, Inc. He joined SPARX in 2006 after working as International Finance Editor at BusinessWeek magazine in NY. Previously, he served as foreign correspondent in Tokyo for BusinessWeek and before that worked as a reporter for Dow Jones & Co., The Associated Press and Bloomberg News. Chester graduated with an M.A. from Harvard University in 1993. He graduated from Ohio University with a B.A. after spending his junior year abroad at Sophia University in Tokyo. His first book, Lexus: The Relentless Pursuit, was published in 2004 by Wiley.
James Hahn is a founding partner of Asia Alpha Private Equity, a Shanghai based investor in profitable high growth Chinese companies across many sectors including digital media, education, energy, financial services, communications, retail, and healthcare. James has invested globally since 1992 as a risk arbitrage portfolio manager at Alpine Alternative Assets, a Hong Kong based hedge fund. He has been recognized by China's leadership at the Financial Reform Forum 2003 in Beijing, at APEC 2005, and at the World Economic Forum. James is also founding shareholder of New York City commercial bank Broadway National Bank.
Ray is the Managing Director of Asian Direct Capital Management (ADCM) in Hong Kong. He has lived in Asia since 1986 and has over 10 years investment experience in all the region's key markets. He has previously held senior posts with James Capel, IFINT and Rothschild Asset Management. Ray holds a B.A. in Economics and Politics from the University of Durham and an MBA from the London Business School. His full biography is available here (external website).
Michael Kandarakis is a Founder and Senior Partner of Grove International Partners, a global real estate private equity firm with aggregate equity commitments of over $3.5 billion. He established and is responsible for Grove’s Asia operations, initially focused on Japan. Grove’s Japan investment platforms have successfully completed more than 60 control transactions since 2001 and employ more than 2,500 people. Prior to joining Grove, Mr. Kandarakis worked at Morgan Stanley in London and New York, and was a member of the team that initiated MSREF’s European investment program. He graduated with honors from the London School of Economics and Political Science where he received a B.S. in Management.