Top Biz News
Wallenberg enjoys three decades of investment in the country
By Zhou Yan and Ma Zhenhuan (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-07 07:53
In the eyes of Jacob Wallenberg, his family's decision to tap into China's market as early as the late 1970s has well positioned the company at a time when other investment firms are suffering in the global financial crisis.
"Most companies in which we have big stakes started entering China very quickly after the 'cultural revolution' , when they were often among the first in their industries willing to invest in China," said Wallenberg, chairman of Investor AB, a Nordic-based investment company founded almost 100 years ago by the Wallenberg family.
Investor AB is the holding company of several well-known corporate names, including ABB, one of the world's largest engineering firms.
Investor AB is also the holding company of telecommunications service provider Ericsson, home appliance giant Electrolux and financial group SEB.
In the late 1970s, it was an adventure for companies like Investor AB to pump capital into a market that was almost unknown by the Western world.
"Today, we're extremely happy with our development in the country, but it was very unclear 30 years ago," Wallenberg said.
Investor AB's success in China was affirmed again last month, when Jacob Wallenberg was appointed chairman of the International Business Leaders' Advisory Council for the mayor of Shanghai for the next two years.
| ||||
For example, the Scandinavian company was among the first angel funds with Goldman Sachs and Fidelity Capital to invest in China's e-commerce company, Alibaba, in 1999.
The homegrown high technology firm became an Internet giant that raised HK$11.6 billion in its initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong in November 2007, making it the second-largest IPO after US-based Google in the Internet sector.
"Our ultimate investment objective is not only to make money, but to develop a firm from its early stage to a world-known one," Wallenberg said. "Our firms always go internationally very quickly."
The company has invested in more than 20 small firms in China, focusing on enterprises related to technologies in which Investor AB has strong expertise.
"Our investment amounts vary from $5 million to $15 million, in accordance with companies' needs," said Paul Choo, chief representative of IGC Asia's Beijing representative office.
The Wallenberg family is among the more influential families in Scandinavia. As early as 1990, the family was estimated to indirectly control one-third of Sweden's Gross National Product (GNP).
Wallenberg said the current financial crisis has created opportunities from cash-strapped companies now up for sale.
Investors can acquire companies at lower prices with fewer bidders, due to the lack of capital available in the banking system, he said.
