Crest seeks investment opportunities across a variety of scenarios such as:

PRIVATE-TO-PUBLIC CROSSOVERS
The transition of privately-held enterprises to publicly listed status is a common hunting ground for private equity funds investing for the value arbitrage between the two status. Our members are veterans employing funds into this situation since the 1980s when we led IPOs in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines back then when we pioneered this investment model. However, we do not pursue these “pre-IPO” deals as mainstream activity now as this area is crowded with many new funds and is therefore, subject to intense price competition.

INDUSTRY OR MARKET FLUX
When established industries or markets are dislodged due to regulatory changes, crises or any exogenous events that do not impair its intrinsic value, situations of interim market imperfections are precipitated. For instance, Crest team members had taken advantage of such a situation in the Taiwanese cable TV market in the late 1990s. These situations are top investment priorities for Crest.

OWNERSHIP TRANSITIONS
We structure and participate in buyouts for business owners who require liquidity or lack effective succession plans. This allows Crest to invest and lead the corporatization of the firm whilst retaining the founder entrepreneur’s dynamism and drive and build exceptional value through the process. Recently, we funded such a transaction involving one of ASEAN’s top children beverage companies.

PUBLIC LISTED COMPANIES / SPECIAL SITUATIONS
Listed companies can become entangled in value diminishing events over time. A fresh injection of new management perspective or business models together with funding may be required to give such companies the means to constantly adapt and rationalize to optimize enterprise value. Investment into such PIPE (“Private Investments in Public Equity”) situations is also an area of keen interest for us. Example of our deals here are listed real estate and oil and gas companies in their corporate refinancing or recapitalization exercises.

DISTRESSED OWNERS
Another investment situation is where we can acquire assets or businesses from sellers who are under distressed conditions. We had acquired 85% of an operating business in 2007 from a seller under such conditions and where the business suffered a case of funds misappropriation.

OUT-OF-THE-BOX SITUATIONS
Our fund management principle is to seek situations requiring capital infusion especially when there are no other fund providers available.