Industry veteran CHUA Kee Lock has officially (but silently) been appointed as Vertex Venture Holdings‘ (VVH) Group President and CEO today. He replaces Mrs GOH Mui Hong, who was concurrently President and CEO of ST Asset Management Ltd (STAM).
Prior to joining VVH, Kee Lock was President and Executive Director at Biosensors International since Aug 2006. While at Biosensors, Kee Lock guided the company through regulatory hurdles for its drug-eluting stents in various international markets previously dominated exclusively by drug giants, and several small acquisitions (Weigao, PT Fondaco) to build a strong foundation for Biosensors’ future growth.
The following is an extract from one of Biosensors’ press releases.
Mr. Chua has more than 12 years of senior executive and operations experience in a variety of industry settings. He comes to Biosensors from Walden International, a US-headquartered venture capital firm, where he had been a Managing Director since 2003. He also served in senior executive roles at several Singapore-listed companies, including Deputy President of
NatSteel Ltd., an industrial products company active in Asia Pacific, President and Chief Executive Officer of Intraco Ltd., a trading and distribution company, and President & Co-Founder of MediaRing.com, a company providing voice-over-internet services. Mr. Chua received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and a Master of Science degree in Engineering from Stanford University.
Vertex Venture Holdings was founded in 1988 as the venture capital arm of the former Singapore Technologies Group. Since 1988, VVH has launched a total of 13 direct funds with an aggregate fund size in excess of $1 billion invested in more than 300 companies in the US, Europe, Israel and Asia. As of August 2008, more than 150 of their portfolio companies have either been listed or acquired by other companies. As of 31 Dec 2004, with the transfer of all of ST’s assets, VVH became a subsidiary of Temasek Holdings.
Vertex appeared to have been in deep slumber for the past few years – a check on their website shows news dating back to 2005. With the appointment of Kee Lock, will we soon be seeing a revival and new (and much needed) activity?
More importantly, how does this fit into the larger investment strategy for Singapore’s GIC, Temasek and Vertex? Any thoughts are welcomed!
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