(By Ernie Calucag)

(Left to Right)

Dato’ Mohammed Azlan Bin Hashim, Chairman, Asiasons Capital and Chairman, Westcomb; Mr Jared Lim, Managing Director, Asiasons Capital; Mr Ng Teck Wah, Group CEO, Westcomb; Mr Alex Tan, Group COO, Westcomb; Mr Yee Chia Hsing, Head of Corporate Finance, Westcomb

Mainboard-listed Westcomb Financial Group Ltd Wednesday unveiled its new corporate identity, taking on a new name as Asiasons WFG Financial Ltd (“Asiasons WFG”). Together with the rebranding, the investment holding company also charted its new business direction and strategies to create synergies and build leverage with its parent company, Asiasons Capital Ltd.

Asiasons Capital Ltd, which bought 50.3 per cent of Asiasons WFG in 2009, is an alternative asset management firm focused on Private Equity opportunities in emerging East Asia and oper- ating in the consumer and resource sectors.

Asiasons WFG, meanwhile, has been credited as a boutique financial services firm that broke the stronghold of traditional banks in the Initial Public Offering (IPO) market in Singapore. The company handled more than 75 successful IPO listings, making it the market leader for IPOs for four out of the last 10 years.

However, in response to fast changing dynamics of the global capital markets, officials of Asiasons WFG feel there is a signifi- cant need to reinvent and become relevant in the market. They said this could be achieved if Asiasons WFG and its parent com- pany leveraged on each other’s strong points.

Dato’ Mohammed Azlan Bin Hashim, Chairman of Asiasons Capital Ltd said: “In today’s competitive market, it is important for companies to continually reinvent themselves to meet the changing needs of the customers. Asiasons WFG’s vision is to be a premier boutique investment banking and financial group, bringing value to small- and medium-sized companies in Asia. We will do so by expanding our portfolio to include financing and expertise in the Capital Markets to our clients.”

Thus, while building further on its IPO expertise, Asiasons WFG is looking to embrace the investment banking model by also offering its services in Merger & Acquisitions (M&A) and fund raising activities.

“The name change necessitated the strategies. We will continue our strong presence in IPO but with the dynamic change in the landscape today, we are expanding our services to cover the capital markets as well,” said Ng Tech Wah, Chief Executive Officer of Asiasons WFG.

“We feel that with this linkage, combining the expertise of both Asiasons WFG and the parent company, we would be able to reinvent ourselves and become relevant in the market,” he added.

In light of the still tight credit market in the region, Asiasons WFG is also launching a S$100 million fund to provide financing to regional companies starved of credit. Financing will be in the form of convertible debt, bonds and warrants, mezzanine funding and others.

This fund will help smaller companies to grow to the next level of size without the necessity to go for an IPO, especially when there is poor market sentiment. The fund will also benefit existing listed companies which have bridging requirements and are not able to tap traditional banks’ credit lines.

“Asiasons WFG has a strong relationship with maybe 20 to 25 per cent of listed SGX companies so it already has a head start in terms of time relationships and sourcing of deals and in terms of naming companies who are appropriate and not appropriate for the fund,” said Jared Lim, Managing Director of Asiasons Capital.

For this fund, Asiasons WFG is targeting smaller companies in emerging East Asia markets, such as Malaysia and Indonesia, on top of its strong presence in Singapore and China. On a longer term, the company also announced it is planning to build footprints in Korea and Germany.

“Hopefully we should be able to do our first close in the next six months,” said Ng Tech Wah.