Chris Chia and his partners, Yeo Kar Peng and Dennis Wuisan, quite purposefully avoided founding a traditional private equity firm. The trio crossed paths as investment bankers – Chia met Wuisan while both worked at Goldman Sachs in Singapore, while Chia and Yeo worked together at Salomon Smith Barney (now Citigroup) – and realised there was a place in the market for a firm that could provide funding to Asia’s plethora of small, often family-owned companies unwilling to cede control to outside investors.
Mezzanine as a means
Southeast Asia-focused Kendall Court has plans to expand its assets under management and its network of offices, bringing its growth capital-style of mezzanine financing to more of the region’s up-and-coming companies. Managing partner Chris Chia tells Hsiang-Ching Tseng why the 7-year-old firm believes strongly in a niche that has yet to really take root in Asia
