Robert Ng
Robert Ng Chee Siong (黄志祥, born 1952) is the chairman of Hong Kong property development conglomerate Sino Group, a position he has held since 1981. He is the eldest son of Ng Teng Fong, the Singaporean real estate billionaire. Forbes listed the two as the 30th richest people in the world in 1997.
Ng was speculating in futures contracts on the Hong Kong Futures Exchange through two Panamanian-registered companies when the October 1987 global stock market crash began; his paper losses reportedly reached HK$1 billion. At first, Ng refused to pay, claiming to be protected by the limited liability of the companies through which he had traded. This led to the collapse of the futures exchange; trading was also halted on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for four days. An investigation by the Commercial Crime Bureau of the Royal Hong Kong Police revealed that Ng had avoided required margin calls through collusion with one of his brokers. However, in the end, no charges were laid against Ng because the colonial government of Hong Kong felt that prosecuting him would pose a risk to overall market stability. Instead, a deal was worked out which saw Ng repay HK$500 million, with Hong Kong taxpayers providing the rest of the funds needed by the Exchange through a government bailout. Ng reportedly lost a total of US$250 million in his various investment holdings as a result of the crash.
In June 1995, Ng took over as chairman of Yeo Hiap Seng (YHS), a Singapore-listed food and beverages company which had lost US$3.2 million in its previous year of operation. His chairmanship came at the same time as his family increased its stake in the company to 24.9%, just short of the 25% threshold above which they would be required by law to make an offer to buy out all other shareholders. This marked a step forward in his fight with Malaysian billionaire investor Quek Leng Chan for control of YHS and its land holdings in Singapore’s Bukit Timah district, which could be worth billions of dollars were they redeveloped into residential real estate. In the end, Ng and his father were able to successfully take advantage of squabbles within the Yeo family to buy up 86% of YHS’ stock. Their battle to gain control of the company was later described as “one of the most colourful take-over struggles in Singapore history” and led to YHS’ transformation from a food company to a luxury real estate developer.
The Sino Group also spun off their hotel interests into a new company, Sino Hotels, in that year; Ng became chairman of the board of the new company as well from its inception. In early 1997, under Ng’s direction, Sino Hotels made several acquisitions, including an 80% stake in the local branch of the Conrad Hotel for HK$2 billion. Ng also predicted that office properties would perform well during that year. For the latter six months of that year, Sino Hotels reported a 66% fall in net interim profits and 80% fall in operating profit, which Ng attributed to lower contributions not just from hotels but from the company’s Fortune chain of Chinese restaurants as well. However, the Conrad proved to be a resilient investment, with the average room rate increasing by 14.7% during the months in question.
Other Information
- Name : Robert Ng Chee Siong
- Residence : Hong Kong
- Employer : Sino Group
- Father : Ng Teng Fong
- Known for : 1987 Hong Kong Futures Exchange collapse
- Title : Chairman
- Spouse : Yeoh Saw Kheng
- Children : Daryl, Nikki, Jeanne, Christine
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