A photo on the website of Bellagraph Nova Group, showing owners Terence and Nelson Loh and Evangeline Shen sitting next to former U.S. President Barack Obama, is pictured on screen, in Singapore August 19, 2020. REUTERS/Ng Yi Shu
The company, which says it had a turnover of $12 billion last year and describes itself in marketing materials as the “world’s fastest growing conglomerate”, has said on its website and in press releases that it is headquartered in Paris. Hydra X has denied both those claims. The Singapore Exchange has also denied Hydra X is implementing a trading system.BN Group’s website and press releases in recent weeks have featured photos of Obama with the firm’s owners, Singaporean businessmen Terence and Nelson Loh, and Evangeline Shen, a Chinese jewellery merchant and former Morgan Stanley banker.
The charity event where the photos of Obama were taken was sponsored by Novena Global Lifecare, a Singapore healthcare company founded in 2010 by the Loh cousins. The surprise announcement adds to years of speculation over the future of Newcastle United, which has been the subject of several fruitless takeover bids, including a $390 million Saudi-backed deal that collapsed last week.
BN Group has said on its website and in marketing materials that it is a French company with an office in Paris at 10 Place Vendome, an exclusive square home to the Ritz Paris hotel and luxury stores such as Chanel and Louis Vuitton. When contacted for comment, Hydra X and the exchange denied this. Bourbon said there had been a mistake in translating the company’s description in its marketing documents.