Page 55 - Forbes - Asia (March 2020)

Over the decades, it built

a collection of what’s now

called Big Data on every 53

industry it has financed.

low-return to make. As Chailease expanded geographically,
it began expanding its offerings, too, adding lease-to-own
plans and accounts receivable financing.
When Koo joined, Chailease had a commanding, 40%
share of Taiwan’s leasing market. But as Koo delved, he dis-
From top:
covered that profits were being undermined by too many in- Koo Hsien-jung,
dividual units, each set up to satisfy regulations on its par- Koo Chen-Fu
and Jeffrey Koo Sr.
ticular product but then competing for identical customers.
“There was a lot of friction.” he says. In 1998, Koo proposed
merging Chailease’s trade financing unit with the leasing Family Tree
business to reduce redundancy. Jeffrey Sr. agreed on one DEEP ROOTS
condition: no layoffs. Koo agreed, but like most mergers,
combining two organizations ruffled feathers and sparked a Andre Koo comes from one of Taiwan’s
wave of exits. “If you ask me, the merger was a failure,” says most prominent business families,
Koo. “I wasn’t able to protect the mandate.” one whose fortunes stretch back over
In 2000, Koo called in consultants, who spent three years a century, starting with Koo’s great
helping him overhaul Chailease, and getting buy-in from grandfather Koo Hsien-jung. During the
Japanese colonial rule of Taiwan, he
executives and staff. The overhaul worked: Koo has since became the first Taiwanese member in
boosted profits at Chailease 19-fold since taking over, ac- the upper house of Japan’s parliament.
cording to Liao. In addition, Koo also continued his father’s The Japanese government gave Koo a
efforts to expand into Southeast Asia, starting in Thailand monopoly in important commodities, in-
in 1989. Chailease followed Taiwan’s manufacturers into cluding salt, sugar and opium, the profits
from which he used to create the Koos
Vietnam in 2006, becoming by 2016 the largest leasing group. The group’s interests eventually
company there. In recent years it has ventured into Cambo- extended to cement, petrochemicals,
dia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Chailease plans to open manufacturing, real estate, commodities
offices in Indonesia and Singapore this year. and financial services.
The Koo family continued to thrive after
Southeast Asia now represents 15% of Chailease’s over- Taiwan came under the control of Chiang
all leasing portfolio, contributing 4% of net profit in 2019. Kai-shek. Hsien-jung’s eldest son Yue-fu
“They have developed a kind of expertise which is specif- died in 1936, leaving second son Chen-
ic to aircraft aviation financing, specifically in the midsize fu to take charge when the patriarch
CHEN-FU: CHERYL SHERIDAN BLACKSTAR PHOTOS/NEWSCOM
segments,” says Thierry Tea, chairman of Manila-based passed away the following year. Chen-fu
forged strong ties with Chiang as his
air charter firm PhilJets, which first signed a deal with wife Cecilia was a close aide of Madame
Chailease in 2015. Chiang Kai-shek. He also helped broker
warmer cross-Straits relations.
Yue-fu’s only son and Andre’s father,
he biggest growth, however, has been in
T mainland China, which represents 37% of Jeffrey Sr., started helping his uncle
Chen-fu run the Koos group in the
its portfolio. After entering the market in
would become CTBC Bank, and in 1977
2005, Koo wanted to raise funds for expan- 1950s. After setting up in 1966 what
sion, but Taiwan at the time prohibited in- creating Chailease, together they set up
vesting IPO proceeds on the mainland. So Koo held its IPO KGI Securities, the precursor to China
Development Financial Holding. Jeffrey
in Singapore, making Chailease the first Taiwan company Sr. introduced the first credit card to
to list there, selling a roughly 27% stake in 2007 for $170 Taiwan in 1944, and continued Chen-fu’s
million. After Taiwan lifted its restrictions, Chailease in work in promoting cross-Straits relations.
2011 delisted from Singapore and relisted in Taiwan. He passed away in 2012.

MAR CH 2020 F ORBES A SIA