KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia Group expects businessman and M&A specialist Stanley Choi Chiu Fai, who joined the low-cost carrier group as a strategic shareholder to add value to its digital business development in China.
Its executive chairman Datuk Kamarudin Meranun said Choi brings an impressive track record and solid reputation as a business powerhouse to the group.
“As chairman of one of the leading broking houses in Hong Kong, Stanley has a proven track record in the investment business and as a member of the YunFeng Capital, brings with him great access to key businesses in mainland China and opening opportunities for further synergistic collaborations with Asean, ” he said in a statement on Thursday.
Kamarudin said AirAsia Group was confident Choi would add value to its digital business development in China through his vast experience and network with top digital players in the country.
Choi emerged as a substantial shareholder in AirAsia Group via his wholly-owned entity Positive Boom Ltd on Feb 18.
He acquired 167.1 million AirAsia shares in the first tranche of the private placement, raising his shareholding in the group to 332.5 million shares or an 8.96% stake.
Choi is the chairman of Head & Shoulders Financial Group, as well as the chairman and executive director of International Entertainment Corporation (IEC), a company listed on the main board of Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
He is also the only co-founding member from Hong Kong for YunFeng Capital - a private equity fund started in 2010 by a group of successful entrepreneurs and influential industry leaders, named after its co-founder Jack Ma Yun, founder of Alibaba Group, and David Yu Feng, founder of Target Media.
His previous directorships include his appointment as executive director of Target Insurance (Holdings) Ltd from 2014 to 2019, director of ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance Co. Limited from 2013 to 2016 and executive director of Media Asia Group Holdings Ltd from 2011 to 2015.
According to AirAsia Group’s statement Choi has more than 20 years of experience in financial services and merger & acquisition transactions, with a particular focus on private equity investment.
He was a seed investor of Kidswant, a Chinese-startup that has now become a leading maternity, baby and children's product retailer in China with a valuation of over USD3 billion.
Meanwhile, Choi, chairman of Head & Shoulders Financial Group said: “It is my great pleasure and honour to gain a substantial ownership stake in AirAsia Group - the world's best low cost airline and one of Asia’s biggest known brands that has successfully pivoted into digital business as well.
“I believe the worst period in the aviation industry’s history has now passed. I am confident that air travel will bounce back and that under Tan Sri Tony Fernandes’s and Datuk Kamarudin’s leadership, and with vaccines being rolled out across the region and globally, AirAsia has a very bright future ahead. I look forward to working with everyone at AirAsia.”
Choi graduated with a Master’s Degree of Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, United States in 1996. In 2013, he obtained a Doctoral Degree of Business Administration from the City University of Hong Kong.
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