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KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia Group Bhd’s strength in big data makes it an attractive investment portfolio, despite the challenges facing the aviation industry now, says Hong Kong business mogul Stanley Choi, who He has become a major shareholder in the company and could well increase his stake. in the future.
“AirAsia’s growing and diversified business portfolio based on rich and massive customer data, accumulated over 19 years in the aviation business, makes it attractive as data is the next big step.
“All companies have to change and keep improving. With today’s digital audience growing, the role of technology in business strategy must keep pace with its growth. AirAsia has already done well before the pandemic and continues to do well, which makes it attractive for investment, ”he said.
Therefore, Choi, who bought 332.5 million shares or an 8.96% stake in the airline through a private placement last week, said he does not rule out the possibility of increasing his stake. It is now the third largest shareholder in AirAsia Group.
“I do not rule out the possibilities. It is a public company that is publicly traded. I keep that option open. “
Among others, AirAsia’s super app has 16 million monthly active users (56 million before the Covid-19 pandemic) and emerged as the preferred app in Southeast Asia and Asia in general, and makes e-commerce available. / accessible to the 700 million inhabitants. only in Asean and 4.5 billion in Asia.
“In addition, AirAsia is one of the best managed airlines in the world. Its fundamentals are so solid. Once the time is right, I believe that AirAsia, along with other airlines, will recover and AirAsia would be among the first to do so, ”he said.
Therefore, the investment decision was made based on fundamentals, supported by the deployment of the vaccine in key markets, followed by the recovery of travel and tourism in Asia, he said.
“It will even be a year or two before the travel and tourism industry fully recovers and the potential is tremendous. So my investment is long-term, ”he said when asked about his holding.
Choi is Chairman of Head & Shoulders Financial Group, as well as Chairman and CEO of International Entertainment Corporation, which is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
He is also the Hong Kong co-founding member of 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.
Choi said he hopes to create value for AirAsia.
“I will probably (give) ideas, especially on ways of doing business in China. There is a way to do business there and create value there, but I would let the management team make the decisions. “
Choi has more than 20 years of experience in financial services and M&A transactions, with a particular focus on private equity investing.
He was an initial investor in Kidswant, a Chinese startup that has now become a leading retailer of maternity, baby and child products in China with a valuation of more than US $ 3 billion.
AirAsia’s share price rose 2.67% to close at 96 sen today with 72.24 million shares traded.
