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Monday, July 16, 2018, 12:34
Heady mix
By Low Shi Ping in Singapore
Monday, July 16, 2018, 12:34 By Low Shi Ping in Singapore

Little Sheep Hot Pot franchise looms as next success for investment ‘doctor’ who wants to build a better Myanmar

(MA XUEJING / CHINA DAILY)

He has degrees in arts and engineering, is a former investment banker and heads a conglomerate in Myanmar. 

However, Melvyn Pun likes to joke that he is a doctor.

“There is a queue of people coming to see me to solve their problems,” said the CEO and executive director of Yoma Strategic Holdings, which has been listed in Singapore since 2006. 

The individuals who seek out Pun, 40, see fast-developing Myanmar as an ideal country to invest in with the help of a good local partner. Due to its prominence in Myanmar, Yoma Strategic has become one of the first ports of call for many of these investors.

Pun said he receives many potential investment opportunities but only some are worth pursuing, in his view. 

For instance, at end-May, Yoma Strategic announced its plan to bring Little Sheep Hot Pot to Myanmar.

Launched in Baotou in North China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region back in 1999, Little Sheep has since “grown up”, Pun noted. It has almost 300 restaurants across 120 regions and cities worldwide, including Shanghai, Hong Kong, New York and Ulan Bator.

By the end of the year, Yangon will have its very own Little Sheep Hot Pot outlet, and the Burmese can look forward to feasting on quality ingredients cooked in the restaurant chain’s aromatic broth, made from 37 herbs and spices.

Another notable partnership for Yoma Strategic is a joint venture with the French wines and spirits company Pernod Ricard. The venture aims to focus on the production and distribution of whisky in Myanmar.

Yoma Strategic already owns High Class Whisky, a local label in which it invested four years ago. This JV will see High Class Whisky become part of the Pernod Ricard family — making it the first Myanmar brand in its portfolio — and leverage on its experience and capabilities to grow further. 

It is no surprise that these two announcements from Yoma Strategic are in the areas of food and beverage (F&B).

Following a consolidation exercise from 2014 to 2015, four key pillars were identified for the business to focus on: real estate, F&B, automotive and heavy equipment, and financial services. 

“Back in 2014, we realized we were running 50 to 60 businesses. They were fun and exciting but not all were meaningful, so we started to consolidate,” Pun said. 

“We clustered the business around key areas where we could see the way forward to become a leading player in terms of size, business practices, pricing and how things are done.”

For instance, the company’s focus on F&B stems from a decision to target end-consumers. 

Pun describes Myanmar as an “aspirational country” where people now seek to connect with the international community and hope to live, work and play like people elsewhere across the world. 

It is this conviction that guided him to introduce the KFC fast-food chain to the local market two and a half years ago. Today, there are 23 KFC outlets and it is the largest F&B chain in the country by revenue. 

In the past six months, Pun has also been leading an exercise to articulate Yoma Strategic’s vision. 

“We asked ourselves: Who are we, what do we stand for, and how can that bring us to the next phase?” he explained. 

“We felt strongly that we want to build a better Myanmar for its people. We are also about sustainability, and being a family-oriented business.” 

Yoma Strategic is part of a bigger empire built by Pun’s father, Serge Pun. 

In 1983, he founded Serge Pun & Associates (SPA) in Hong Kong. He later registered it in Myanmar in 1991, restructuring it into an investment holding and operating company.

A year later he established First Myanmar Investment, which in 2016 became the first company to list on the Yangon Stock Exchange.

In the group’s corporate structure, Yoma Strategic is another public investment vehicle under SPA. The third entity is Memories Group, which was spun off to manage its tourism assets.

In 2015, after two years as the CEO of SPA, Melvyn Pun took over the management of Yoma Strategic from his father. 

The most satisfying part so far has been the building of a strong team that he is confident can lead the company forward, Pun said. 

Joining the family business, however, was not something Pun had ever intended to do. 

After his education in the United Kingdom, he started working at Goldman Sachs Group in Hong Kong, where he stayed for a dozen years and rose to head of corporate sales for the Asia region excluding Japan. 

During this period, Pun often went back to Myanmar to visit family. 

“Empty streets where we can go anywhere within 15 minutes,” recalled Pun, when asked about his earliest memories of the country. He also remembers “spending time with my grandmother in her old home near Inya Lake” in Yangon.

A trip back home in 2012 with his former boss to look for investment opportunities convinced him that his place was in Myanmar, working beside his father. 

“People were shocked that I left (Hong Kong). It was a comfortable lifestyle. I was quite good at what I was doing,” said Pun. 

On the other hand, the past six years have been much more exciting and challenging. Pun feels he is contributing something more substantial and leaving a legacy. 

“In many ways, I am blessed to have the opportunity to do this. Myanmar has just opened up, and we are lucky to have a front row seat to its development.” 

His 12 years spent at Goldman Sachs provided him with the appropriate foundation. 

“My job was to work with the leading companies of Asia. I was talking to CEOs and CFOs about how Goldman can provide financial and advisory services to them,” Pun said. 

“Often, the conversation would also move toward how the business can do better. I got an insight into how to run a good business.”

When asked if he feels pressure to live up to his father’s reputation and stature, Pun’s answer is an emphatic no.

“I think it’s impossible to compare reputation and stature. I’m very proud of my father, and I hope I can make him proud too.”

“He gives me the flexibility to build new businesses and I lean on him for advice and guidance. We might analyze things differently, but we rarely disagree on something.” 

Out of Pun’s three brothers, two are also involved with the business. 

Cyrus is Yoma’s head of real estate, while Ivan looks after Pun + Projects, which runs restaurants in Yangon. 

Sebastian, the youngest, is involved in aviation, a personal inte rest of his. 

“(My brothers and I) work in partnership to grow the company and have a great time doing that,” Pun said.

The numbers back his claim. In 2015, when he laid out the five-year plan, Pun had intended to shift the business away from real estate and diversify it. 

“We wanted the non-real-estate component to grow from 8 to 50 percent. Within two years, we exceeded the target to bring it to 60 percent,” he said.

“Our strategy of forming clusters and focusing on our core strategy really helped.”

Asked about the group’s next objectives, Pun responded: “We are on a path to build leading positions in each of our businesses. The next five years will be about building our key business pillars into sustainable and profitable businesses that can be independently managed by strong professionals.” 

Pun readily admits that he is lucky to be in the right place at the right time. “If this change in the country’s government (away from military rule) had happened earlier, it would have been too early for me,” he said. 

“If it happened later, I wouldn’t have the energy. I’m lucky that I’m encountering this at exactly the right moment of my life.” 

Bio

Melvyn Pun

CEO and executive director, Yoma Strategic Holdings

Education: 

2000: Master’s degree in engineering, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom 

1999: Bachelor of Arts (first-class honors), University of Cambridge

Career milestones: 

2018-present: Board and executive committee member, Myanmar Institute of Directors 

2015-present: CEO and executive director, Yoma Strategic Holdings

2013-15: CEO, Serge Pun & Associates

2000-12: Goldman Sachs, rising to managing director, head of Asia ex-Japan, Corporate Solutions Group

Awards (Yoma Strategic Holdings):

2017: Top 5 percent of the Singapore Governance and Transparency Index

2016: Best Managed Board (Gold), Singapore Corporate Awards

2015: Ranked 17 out of 100 companies, ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard

Quick takes:

What is your business philosophy?

I think business is about building fair and equitable relationships, whether with investors, customers or employees. I also believe that it is important for business communities to ensure good sustainability practices. This is particularly relevant for Myanmar, as the private sector has a role to play in the building of the nation.

What is your outlook on Myanmar?

I am extremely optimistic. The long-term prospects are great, with the geopolitical dynamics and the fundamental supply and demand needs driving long-term growth in the country. There will be turbulence along the way, but Myanmar will grow substantially in the medium to long term.

For a foreign investor interested in entering Myanmar, where do the opportunities lie? 

It depends on their area of interest and expertise. There are huge infrastructural opportunities as more parts of the country open up — for example, in transport, power, and telecoms. As an emerging economy, the people in the more remote areas lack access to basic goods and services that we might take for granted. If foreign investors take a developmental mind-set and are in Myanmar for the long term, they will be able to capitalize on the opportunities there.

Year of birth: 1978


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