Hong Kong SPACs are backed by star promoters that include an Olympian, former central banker
- Promoters of SPACs play a key role in their success because these blank-cheque companies do not have any business operations or assets, says a banker
- Former HKMA boss Norman Chan and Olympic gold medallist Li Ning are among the star promoters putting their weight behind the new Hong Kong SPACs
An Olympian, a former central banker, a tycoon, medical experts, and veteran investment bankers are among the star promoters of the first group of so-called blank-cheque companies, or special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), in Hong Kong.
“The promoters of SPACs play key roles in their success because these companies do not have business operations or assets,” John Lee, vice-chairman and head of Greater China global banking at UBS, told the Post.
“They rely on the experience and reputation of the promoters to attract investors. Likewise, they need promoters to negotiate with the potential buying targets,” Lee said. UBS is the sponsor of three SPACs in Hong Kong.
The 11 SPACs that have applied to list in Hong Kong cover a wide range of industries and professions, including consumer, health care and TMT, as well as new energy banking and finance, seen as important to the development of SPACs in Hong Kong, Lee added.
Here are seven people considered to have the star qualities necessary to attract investors to SPACs.
Norman Chan Tak-lam – HK Acquisition Corp
Chan, 67, former chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, owns 51 per cent of HK Acquisition Corp, while the remainder is owned by family members of Hong Kong’s former chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen.
The SPAC will focus on companies in the financial services and technology sectors in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan that can “provide attractive financial returns,” HK Acquisition said in its stock exchange filing.
Chan, a former civil servant who was in charge of the HKMA until October 2019, previously served as deputy to Joseph Yam Chi-kwong. In 2009, Chan replaced Yam, who retired after leading authority since its founding in 1993.
Chan has also managed the Hong Kong Exchange Fund, which has assets totalling HK$4.5 trillion (US$575 billion).
In October 2020, Chan launched Round Dollar Wallet Technologies, backed by five investors, which offers digital payment services to aid cross-border transactions.
Li Ning – Trinity Acquisition Holdings
A former Olympic gymnast turned sportswear entrepreneur, Li, 58, owns one third of Trinity Acquisition Holdings, with the remainder held by two private equity firms, LionRock and Astrapto.
Trinity plans to acquire businesses in the consumer lifestyle sector.
Li, who won three Olympic gold medals for China in 1984, established the eponymous sportswear brand in 1990, and listed it in Hong Kong in 2004. The sportswear sector is expected to benefit from a five-year mass fitness programme introduced by China’s State Council in August, that may boost the value of the country’s sports industry to 5 trillion yuan (HK$6 trillion/US$786 billion) by 2025.
Fred Hu Zuliu – Interra Acquisition
Private equity company Primavera, founded by former Goldman Sachs banker Fred Hu, 59, owns 60 per cent of Interra Acquisition, with the remainder held by ABCI Asset Management, a part of the Agricultural Bank of China.
Hu, a native of Hunan province, joined Goldman Sachs in 1997 and rose to become Greater China chairman by 2008. He left Goldman to establish Primavera in 2010.
Primavera has invested in more than 70 companies, including electric car maker XPeng, Yum China and Alibaba Group Holding (owner of the Post). Assets under management were more than US$17 billion as of September 30, 2021.
Interra said it wants to invest in Chinese companies because the country has “numerous unlisted unicorns continuing to grow in the innovative technology, consumer and new retail, advanced manufacturing, health care and climate action sectors”.
Zhe Wei – Vision Deal HK Acquisition
The former head of Alibaba.com, Wei, 51, is chairman of Vision Deal HK Acquisition, which intends to focus on smart car technologies, as well as e-commerce in China.
Wei joined Alibaba Group in 2006 as executive vice-president and served as chief executive officer of Alibaba.com until February 2011.
He then founded private equity investment firm Vision Knight Capital to focus on e-commerce and other new economy sectors in China. The fund, which managed US$2.2 billion worth of assets as of December, has invested in 80 projects including the listed companies Pop Mart International Group and Smoore International Holding.
Ye Xiaoping – Tiger Jade Acquisition
Tiger Jade Capital Fund is a private equity firm initiated by Ye, 59, who is a promoter of a SPAC called Tiger Jade Acquisition. Ye is also the chairman of Hangzhou Tigermed Consulting, one of China’s largest contract research Organisations in the pharmaceutical industry.
Tiger Jade Capital has invested in 10 biotech companies, including Abogen Biosciences, which is working with others to develop a Covid-19 vaccine using messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) technology. It has also invested in the Cellular Biomedicine Group which focuses on developing cancer treatments.
Tiger Jade said it will invest in biotechnology, medical devices, health care services and consumer health care in China.
Adrian Cheng Chi-kong – A SPAC (HK) Acquisition
Arta TechFin, a financial firm owned by New World Development chief executive Adrian Cheng, is the promoter behind A SPAC (HK) Acquisition. Cheng’s family has ranked as the city’s third richest since 2020, according to Forbes.
Arta TechFin group has experience in de-SPAC transactions in the United States.
The SPAC said it wants to undertake mergers with companies that have “products or services that address a large consumer or business market with sustainable competitive differentiation”.
Lawrence Ho Yau-lung – Black Spade Asia Acquisition
With a net worth of US$1.25 billion, Ho is the 46th richest man in Hong Kong, according to Forbes. He is the son of the late Macau casino tycoon Stanley Ho Hung-sun, who died in May 2020.
His private investment vehicle Black Spade Capital raised US$169 million from a SPAC IPO in New York in July 2021.
Black Spade aims to acquire a company that “can benefit from the collective network, knowledge and experience of [its] promoters” and that “is related to, or is in the entertainment, lifestyle and health care industry”, according to its listing application.
