telecom, media internet
Asia online
Although Asia has been recognized as a
high potential TMI market for quite
some time, transactions tended to be
more ad hoe and opportunistic than in
Europe or the US. Until now, that is. For
the past few months, TMI has been
establishing itself through a newly set
up Hong Kong base 'manned' by Marjon
Wind. We ask what's happening in the
region.
Giant step
Revenue/risk
Taking off
What'sNewS Issue 8 December 2000
Exploration in the Asian market began
in 1998. The team in Europe saw that
saturation could ultimately limit its activi-
ties close to home. The diverse markets of
Asia offered interesting business opportu-
nities and challenges. However, the crisis
that hit the region hard meant RI's tele
com and media team put plans on hold, at
least for the short term. Early in 2000,
with clear signs that markets were recov-
ering, the team began exploring Asia once
again. 'We've got some great people work-
ing on TMI here in the region,' says Mar
jon Wind. 'But usually they handle this
sector alongside other business. So we
weren't able to concentrate on the kind of
activity TMI likes - controlled growth
through long-term relationships with well-
researched customers.'
Wind's move to Hong Kong is part of a
more focused and dedicated effort by TMI
to tackle the region is a more systematic
way. The Hong Kong location was chosen
because it reflects the future importance of
China. However, Wind is quick to point
out that other markets, especially India,
are just as interesting for TMI: 'and we
have excellent structured finance and
M&A teams on the ground there,' she
adds. 'But what makes this region so chal-
lenging,' she argues, 'is the fact that no
two domestic markets are the same. You
have extremely sophisti
cated and mature markets.
At the same time, there are
emerging economies where
no fixed telephony infra-
structure was ever installed,
so you've got people there
moving from no connection
to cellular communication
in one giant step. We feel it
will take this group of coun-
tries, which include Indone-
sia, the Philippines, Malay- Marjon Wind
aysia, quite some time to
migrate to 3G (third generation in mobile
communication). So you have to plan and
anticipate your activities in each country
very carefully.'
A group of more mature markets has been
singled out for initial activity. These are
I long Kong itself, with China as back
yard, Singapore, Taiwan and India. Like
colleagues in Europe, Wind and local rela-
tionship managers/product specialists are
adopting a softly, softly approach. 'China
is obviously very interesting, but we think
there's also a lot of hype in this market,'
Wind says. 'So we're focusing on a num-
ber of products that we can do very well
targeted at a selected number of clients
who we know very well.' Traditionally,
TMI in Europe and the US has looked for
high revenue/low risk profile clients who
are in the business for the long haul. lts
cliënt focus in Asia is the same. 'To come
back to China,' she continues, 'our strat-
egy is to make sure we don't get side-
tracked by the hype. If you want to be in
China, you have to be patiënt. First start
building knowledge, get to know the play.
Then you can begin building relationships,
slowly.' This approach will be
crucial because the market is
changing so rapidly, not only in
China, but throughout the re
gion. 'If you're not on top of it,
if you're not watching very, very
carefully, then you won't be able
to research and analyze it suc-
cessfully.'
The TMI team in Asia will be
offering an equally controlled
cluster of products. Project and structured
finance are top of Wind's priority list, with
special focus on M&A. The kind of con-
solidation and convergence typical of the
US and Europe is only just taking off in
most of the region. So there's a lot of
room to manoeuvre, especially if you have
the kind of reputation that RI's telecom,
media and now Internet people have been
building over the past few years. 'The
biggest problem,' Wind believes, 'will be
to ensure we don't get too excited about
the vast array of opportunities open to us
here. We have to stick to our policy of
learning the markets, defining the success-
ful players and the potential movers. If we
do that consistently, we'11 be bringing in
the same kind of returns our TMI col
leagues are generating in Europe. That's
the plan and we're going for it.'
our strategy. Dr. Nico van Eijk, who is
a specialist in telecom law and regulations,
heads up our research efforts. Now we're
bringing in a telecoms engineer, Henk
Doorenspleet, who will work alongside
Nico from a technological point of view.
Our ainr has always been to bring more
than just financial expertise to the table.
You have to understand the industry itself,
from the inside out.
WNS:
You've worked both the European and the
Asian markets from Utrecht. And there is
a strong team in Chicago. How will that
work now that you're a 'focus sector'?
GK:
For the past five years, we worked to-
gether, but separately. Now, we're looking
at ways to 'globalize' our approach. The
fact Marjon Wind has located to Hong
Kong to coordinate TMI activities in the
Asian region is another example of how
we're tackling this huge and very diverse
marketplace. But I can't say it often
enough, and I think all my colleagues in
TMI would agree wholeheartedly: we've
been successful because we've pursued a
controlled growth strategy. Even though
it's tempting to rush into other potential
markets, we're going to do all we can to
stay right on track. TMI has always been
a conservative player, which is right for a
financial institution with our profile.
Nothing will change that. We've managed
to avoid mistakes through careful risk
management. We intend to keep it that
way.
