Super connector on a roll

Super connector on a roll
Published February 21, 2007


Popiah king Sam Goi's wide contacts add value to small companies, CONRAD RAJ reports

HAVING ceded day-to-day control of his flagship, Tee Yih Jia Food, to his children and other professionals, popiah king Sam Goi, who is also the company's executive chairman, now has plenty of time to invest in other projects.

'Many of Singapore's companies are relatively small and they need to get together and cooperate more if they are to succeed in the global market. So what I am doing these days is investing in companies where I can use my connections to add value to these companies,' Mr Goi told BT.

In the last few years Mr Goi has invested more than $100 million in a slew of Singapore companies, including Super Coffeemix, JEL Corporation (Holdings), Asian Environment, Dayen Environmental, Rockeby biomed and Union Steel Holdings.

All the companies Mr Goi, who is also the Singapore regional representative for China's Fuzhou province, has invested in are publicly listed here except for Rockeby which has indicated its intention to go public.

'I only like to invest in companies that are listed or based here as there is greater accountability, transparency and corporate governance in Singapore,' Mr Goi told BT.
'I feel I can add value through my connections in the region and in China.'

- Popiah king Sam Goi
- Popiah king Sam Goi

'While I may trade blue chips, I'm in these companies for the long haul. I don't just buy and sell their shares. For instance, I started buying into Super Coffeemix of which I'm the single largest shareholder now, eight, nine years ago when the shares were just 19 cents each, and kept on buying even when they went up to 30/40 cents. Now they are trading at around 90 cents and I'm still keeping them,' he added.

Mr Goi's investment strategy is to initially start with about a couple of million dollars, 'but as I get more confident about the company and its people, I'll put in more. That's my style'.

A couple of weeks ago, Mr Goi and Super Coffeemix's chairman and managing director, David Teo, bought a 13.85 per cent stake in construction firm Lian Beng from substantial shareholder Ong Sek Chong & Sons for just under $20 million.

Mr Ong Sek Chong was the company's founder and the father of Lian Beng's current chairman and managing director Ong **** Aik. With the new shareholders coming on board, the Ong family's deemed and direct interest in Lian Beng has been pared down to 43.3 per cent.


Overseas opportunities

The two shareholders' impact on Lian Beng was almost immediate. A couple of days later Mr Goi and Mr Teo brought Mr Ong, together with Union Steel's chief executive officer Ang Yu Seng and former Transport Minister Yeo Cheow Tong, to China to meet Chinese officials for exploratory talks and possible investments.

Said Mr Ong: 'While our main business is in construction, Mr Goi tells us that the big money in China is in development and so we are going to look at opportunities there.'

More recently, Mr Goi bought 21.8 million shares or about 6.2 per cent of Zhongguo Powerplus Industries Ltd for just over 20 cents a share. He also persuaded his friends - JEL Corp, Teo Kee Bock, Mr Yeo, Mr Au, Mr Ong, Dayen board member John Lee Thian Guan and JPN Equipment managing director Lim Eng Koo - to subscribe to another 49 million shares in the company.

Mr Teo is also Singapore's regional representative for Changzhou, and like Mr Goi, has manufacturing facilities in Singapore and China. He also has factories in Malaysia, Myanmar and Indonesia, and a network of direct sales offices and distributors strategically located to reach Asia-Pacific and world markets.

Except for Super Coffeemix - whose principal activities include the manufacture and distribution of instant coffee, non-dairy creamer, instant cereal flakes and convenient food products such as instant noodles and potato chips - of which he is vice-chairman, Mr Goi is not directly involved in the management of the invested companies.

'Super is in the food business which I know very well. The others are businesses I don't know about but which I feel I can add value through my connections in the region and in China,' Mr Goi explained when asked why he wasn't directly involved in the other companies.

It also explains why before last year, except for Serial Systems, Mr Goi was focused on food and beverage companies like Thai Village, Super Coffeemix, Youcan, and Tung Lok.

Mr Goi is a great connector. For instance, in the case of JEL (not to be mistaken for Jurong Engineering Ltd which has been renamed International Capital Investment after it was taken over by Mr Goi's good friend Oei Hong Leong), he brought in DBS Holdings chairman Koh Boon Hwee as a shareholder.

'With about 70 to 80 per cent of our business in electronics, Mr Koh's knowledge of the industry is invaluable,' says JEL chairman and chief executive Eric Tan. 'Mr Goi not only introduced Mr Koh, but he is also getting us involved in China and the Middle East where, as you know, knowing the right people is important,' he adds.


Top-notch networker

At the same time, Mr Goi also gets the management of the various companies he has invested in to meet and discuss possible joint ventures or other ways by which they can work together.

For instance, having found out that JEL is strong in the African continent, he is now trying to get Super Coffeemix and the other companies to use JEL's network to export their products there.

In the case of Dayen and Asia Environment, being in similar businesses - both are in water reclamation and treatment - Mr Goi thinks there is room for greater collaboration between the two. But he does not stop there, he also thinks that Lian Beng ought to diversify into water treatment and work with these two companies.

'For instance, Dayen may find handling a $100-million job too big, but by pooling resources, it might be able to take on such contracts,' Mr Goi notes.

'Networking is important for our companies as many are relatively small and do not have the resources that multinationals and other large companies have,' Mr Goi adds.

The 58-year-old is himself a superb networker, finding time to be involved in various other public bodies, including being chairman of the international trade committee of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the president of Enterprise 50 Club and deputy president of the Singapore Badminton Association.