ulling an IPO is generally not a sign of corporate confidence. Ron Sim knew that. It was early 2018, and he was on the brink of relisting the company he had taken private just two years earlier, the company that made him a billionaire. The syndicate of underwriters was lined up, the prospectus was out and Hong Kong’s exchange had given the green light for a listing by his company Vision Three and its flagship OSIM unit.
It was in massage chairs, though, that Sim found his niche, teaming up with Japanese engineers nearly 30 years ago to impart OSIM’s chairs with the sensation of a genuine shiatsu massage and then building a factory near Shanghai to keep costs low. Sim took OSIM International public in 2000, selling just over 25% of its shares in a deal that valued the company at just S$71 million.
Sim says the setback helped hone his operational, financial and management skills. “The key principle I learned from the Brookstone acquisition is that I understand the psychology of the financial market and the financial player,” he says. TWG’s biggest source of profits comes not from the boutiques, though, but from selling tea and related merchandise to hotels and other luxury retailers. In 2017, TWG earned S$4.5 million on nearly S$70 million in sales, down from
Yes. The Grayling obviously likes founders and folks with a creative vision in Blue Jackets, White Shirts and Black Trousers. Noticed that while being on a stroll in the woods today...