53
MARCH 2020 FORBES ASIAlow-return to make. As Chailease expanded geographically,
it began expanding its offerings, too, adding lease-to-own
plans and accounts receivable financing.
When Koo joined, Chailease had a commanding, 40%
share of Taiwan’s leasing market. But as Koo delved, he dis-
covered that profits were being undermined by too many in-
dividual units, each set up to satisfy regulations on its par-
ticular product but then competing for identical customers.
“There was a lot of friction.” he says. In 1998, Koo proposed
merging Chailease’s trade financing unit with the leasing
business to reduce redundancy. Jeffrey Sr. agreed on one
condition: no layoffs. Koo agreed, but like most mergers,
combining two organizations ruffled feathers and sparked a
wave of exits. “If you ask me, the merger was a failure,” says
Koo. “I wasn’t able to protect the mandate.”
In 2000, Koo called in consultants, who spent three years
helping him overhaul Chailease, and getting buy-in from
executives and staff. The overhaul worked: Koo has since
boosted profits at Chailease 19-fold since taking over, ac-
cording to Liao. In addition, Koo also continued his father’s
efforts to expand into Southeast Asia, starting in Thailand
in 1989. Chailease followed Taiwan’s manufacturers into
Vietnam in 2006, becoming by 2016 the largest leasing
company there. In recent years it has ventured into Cambo-
dia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Chailease plans to open
offices in Indonesia and Singapore this year.
Southeast Asia now represents 15% of Chailease’s over-
all leasing portfolio, contributing 4% of net profit in 2019.
“They have developed a kind of expertise which is specif-
ic to aircraft aviation financing, specifically in the midsize
segments,” says Thierry Tea, chairman of Manila-based
air charter firm PhilJets, which first signed a deal with
Chailease in 2015.he biggest growth, however, has been in
mainland China, which represents 37% of
its portfolio. After entering the market in
2005, Koo wanted to raise funds for expan-
sion, but Taiwan at the time prohibited in-
vesting IPO proceeds on the mainland. So Koo held its IPO
in Singapore, making Chailease the first Taiwan company
to list there, selling a roughly 27% stake in 2007 for $170
million. After Taiwan lifted its restrictions, Chailease in
2011 delisted from Singapore and relisted in Taiwan.Andre Koo comes from one of Taiwan’s
most prominent business families,
one whose fortunes stretch back over
a century, starting with Koo’s great
grandfather Koo Hsien-jung. During the
Japanese colonial rule of Taiwan, he
became the first Taiwanese member in
the upper house of Japan’s parliament.
The Japanese government gave Koo a
monopoly in important commodities, in-
cluding salt, sugar and opium, the profits
from which he used to create the Koos
group. The group’s interests eventually
extended to cement, petrochemicals,
manufacturing, real estate, commodities
and financial services.
The Koo family continued to thrive after
Taiwan came under the control of Chiang
Kai-shek. Hsien-jung’s eldest son Yue-fu
died in 1936, leaving second son Chen-
fu to take charge when the patriarch
passed away the following year. Chen-fu
forged strong ties with Chiang as his
wife Cecilia was a close aide of Madame
Chiang Kai-shek. He also helped broker
warmer cross-Straits relations.
Yue-fu’s only son and Andre’s father,
Jeffrey Sr., started helping his uncle
Chen-fu run the Koos group in the
1950s. After setting up in 1966 what
would become CTBC Bank, and in 1977
creating Chailease, together they set up
KGI Securities, the precursor to China
Development Financial Holding. Jeffrey
Sr. introduced the first credit card to
Taiwan in 1944, and continued Chen-fu’s
work in promoting cross-Straits relations.
He passed away in 2012.Over the decades, it built
a collection of what’s now
called Big Data on every
industry it has financed.
T
CHEN-FU: CHERYL SHERIDAN BLACKSTAR PHOTOS/NEWSCOM
From top:
Koo Hsien-jung,
Koo Chen-Fu
and Jeffrey Koo Sr.Family TreeDEEP ROOTS