A tourist surveys the site of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia in this Nov. 29, 2007 photo. Private-equity investors are venturing into Cambodia, as the nation that three decades ago abolished money under the Khmer Rouge seeks more than US$6 billion to rebuild itself. (Bloomberg News)The China Post
Thursday, May 15, 2008
By Netty Ismail, Bloomberg
SINGAPORE -- Private-equity investors are venturing into Cambodia, as the nation that three decades ago abolished money under the Khmer Rouge seeks more than US$6 billion to rebuild itself.
Leopard Capital and Cambodia Investment & Development Fund are among those planning to put more than US$450 million in the second-poorest of 10 Southeast Asian nations. Cambodia Investment is getting advice from Jim Rogers, who predicted the start of the commodities boom in 1999, and Marc Faber, who forecast Asian assets would decline before the regional financial crisis in 1997.
"It's a country that's changed a lot and investors are finally waking up to that," said Douglas Clayton, founder of Leopard Capital, who is based in Phnom Penh and is seeking to raise US$100 million. "Most people have an outdated perception of Cambodia; clearly the country has made significant progress."
Prime Minister Hun Sen is relying on the country's oil and mineral resources to attract foreign investments and reduce Cambodia's dependence on clothing exports and tourism for growth as he prepares for an election in July. The funds will move money into banks, office buildings, luxury hotels, ports and other projects.
"Cambodia does have a lot of natural resources, it does have an ambitious population, and it does have some assets," said Singapore-based Rogers, who co-founded the Quantum hedge fund with George Soros during the 1970s, and is now chairman of Rogers Holdings. "Most countries that come out of something like they have are inclined to be pretty safe for a while because they're trying to get money in."
Leopard Capital's first planned investment, a housing project in Siem Reap, probably will generate a return of more than 60 percent a year, about three times the internal target for private-equity investments, said Clayton, who moved to Phnom Penh from Bangkok last June.
Clayton was a hedge fund manager at Knight Asia Group and head of CLSA Securities in Thailand before setting up Leopard Capital in 2007. Faber, publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom report, is a director at Leopard Capital.
Peter Brimble and Bradley Gordon, Clayton's former partners at Leopard Capital, are starting the US$100 million Cambodia Emerald fund this year to invest in tourism, agriculture, financial institutions, infrastructure and real estate.
The fund plans to close at least one deal before the end of the year, said Brimble, who's based in Phnom Penh. LR Global Partners in New York and London-based Kazimir Partners are investors in Cambodia Emerald, he said.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
By Netty Ismail, Bloomberg
SINGAPORE -- Private-equity investors are venturing into Cambodia, as the nation that three decades ago abolished money under the Khmer Rouge seeks more than US$6 billion to rebuild itself.
Leopard Capital and Cambodia Investment & Development Fund are among those planning to put more than US$450 million in the second-poorest of 10 Southeast Asian nations. Cambodia Investment is getting advice from Jim Rogers, who predicted the start of the commodities boom in 1999, and Marc Faber, who forecast Asian assets would decline before the regional financial crisis in 1997.
"It's a country that's changed a lot and investors are finally waking up to that," said Douglas Clayton, founder of Leopard Capital, who is based in Phnom Penh and is seeking to raise US$100 million. "Most people have an outdated perception of Cambodia; clearly the country has made significant progress."
Prime Minister Hun Sen is relying on the country's oil and mineral resources to attract foreign investments and reduce Cambodia's dependence on clothing exports and tourism for growth as he prepares for an election in July. The funds will move money into banks, office buildings, luxury hotels, ports and other projects.
"Cambodia does have a lot of natural resources, it does have an ambitious population, and it does have some assets," said Singapore-based Rogers, who co-founded the Quantum hedge fund with George Soros during the 1970s, and is now chairman of Rogers Holdings. "Most countries that come out of something like they have are inclined to be pretty safe for a while because they're trying to get money in."
Leopard Capital's first planned investment, a housing project in Siem Reap, probably will generate a return of more than 60 percent a year, about three times the internal target for private-equity investments, said Clayton, who moved to Phnom Penh from Bangkok last June.
Clayton was a hedge fund manager at Knight Asia Group and head of CLSA Securities in Thailand before setting up Leopard Capital in 2007. Faber, publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom report, is a director at Leopard Capital.
Peter Brimble and Bradley Gordon, Clayton's former partners at Leopard Capital, are starting the US$100 million Cambodia Emerald fund this year to invest in tourism, agriculture, financial institutions, infrastructure and real estate.
The fund plans to close at least one deal before the end of the year, said Brimble, who's based in Phnom Penh. LR Global Partners in New York and London-based Kazimir Partners are investors in Cambodia Emerald, he said.
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