News

On February 28, Asia Perspective and the EU-China Joint Innovation Center launched the “Foreign Investment in China for Post-Pandemic Growth – A Guide to Strategic Considerations, Site Selection and Economic Zones”. The report was launched during a co-hosted breakfast seminar about opportunities for foreign investments in China, where our partner Johan Annell was one of the keynote speakers.

The report analyzes and detects positive signals and new stresses that can be observed in a wide range of socioeconomic aspects, particularly in China’s economic zones and key industries. The report aims to guide investors in getting a better idea and untangling new investment opportunities in the upcoming future.

Download the Report

Chinese New Year, the festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar, started on January 22nd this year.

Since the outbreak of Covid in 2020, the Chinese population adapted to more frugal celebrations as the government imposed strict measures for domestic travel. However, following the timely removal of the zero-Covid policy in December 2022, the consumer market has revived significantly, approaching pre-outbreak levels across dining, tourism, and cultural entertainment.

With people eager to travel after several years of restrictions, the industry that has benefitted the most from China’s open-door policy is tourism. During the Chinese New Year holiday, 308 million people traveled domestically, a year-on-year increase of 23.1%, recovering to 88.6% in the same period in 2019; the domestic tourism revenue totaled 376 billion yuan (51 billion euros), a year-on-year increase of 30%. Most eager, according to data from Fliggy, China’s leading travel platform, were younger people between 20-30 years old, who significantly contributed to the year-on-year increase and showcased the desire for travel. However, despite strong recent growth, the tourism industry has not fully recovered to 2019 levels, mainly because of a new Covid outbreak in December.

Chinese citizens who choose international travel also increased significantly. According to statistics from Ctrip, China’s top-ranked OTA travel platform, overall orders for international travel during Chinese New Year increased by 640% year-on-year, with cross-border airline ticket orders increasing more than four times. Among them, Southeast Asia and Europe were preferred places for Chinese tourists.

Furthermore, other consumer sectors are also picking up gradually. Consumption of both necessities and luxury goods ushered in a great number of customers, indicating demand to increase living standards and quality of life after three years of quarantines and lockdowns. During the Chinese New Year, shopping areas with famous brands from China and abroad became extremely busy, with offline consumption recovering and growing exponentially. In Sichuan Province alone, sales in well-known shopping malls such as Taikoo Li reached 4.6 billion yuan (633 million euros) during the Chinese New Year Golden Week in 2023, recovering to 108% of the same period in 2019.

Meanwhile, online consumption, which has maintained steady growth throughout Covid, is showcasing a continued positive trend. From the Chinese New Year’s Eve to the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, RT-Mart’s Youxian, an online supermarket, saw APP orders increase by 40% year-on-year. Followingly, TikTok China launched “TikTok Supermarket” during Chinese New Year, and claimed that if customers pay before 16:00, they can enjoy “same-day delivery” service, entering the market to compete with e-commerce giants like Alibaba and JD.com. In this post-epidemic era, quality consumption has become a trend, with imported carrion, imported wine, and other fine Chinese New Year goods becoming the most popular and best-selling gifts for family and friends. Ele.me, Alibaba’s online food delivery and local life service platform, shows that a number of boutique Chinese New Year’s orders have more than doubled the growth in the last month.

Overall, the Chinese New Year is a powerful engine of consumption and a window into China’s economic dynamism. Chinese people’s spending power is recovering; the Chinese economy is reviving. At the Central Economic Work Conference at the end of 2022, economists indicated China will implement more preferential policies to expand market access for foreign investment. In conclusion, the increased spending power shown by people during the Chinese New Year is a very good indicator of the positive recovery in the Chinese market. With the optimization of vaccination policies and the opening of the country’s doors, China still looks promising for the world’s second-largest economy.

Scandinavian management consultancy Asia Perspective acquired by investment bank ARC Group in bid to solidify position as global leader in cross-border M&A between Asian and western markets.

ARC Group is an international investment bank and financial services firm headquartered in Shanghai. Established in 2016, ARC Group is a global leader in SPAC and IPO advisory. In 2022, the firm was ranked no.1 in De-SPAC in the U.S. by SPACInsider.

SHANGHAI, Jan. 12, 2023 — ARC Group, global leader in M&A and Capital Markets Advisory, has signed a share purchase agreement to acquire Scandinavian-owned APAC cross-border consultancy Asia Perspective. Under the agreement, ARC Group acquires 100% of Asia Perspective at a total consideration of USD12.8M. This strategic acquisition aims to further solidify ARC Group’s position as a leader in global financial advisory and management consulting services, especially within cross-border M&A.

ARC Group’s full-service financial advisory platform is complemented by Asia Perspective’s global management consultancy expertise and experience by leveraging their reach across European and APAC markets including offices in Indonesia, mainland China, Vietnam, Sweden, and Hong Kong. The transaction enhances the global reach and service width of both organizations. ARC Group and Asia Perspective both expect to see synergies across various practice lines including especially M&A, Capital Markets Advisory, Market Entry, Financing, Operational Restructuring and Corporate Strategy. The deal shall ultimately help bolster deeper client relationships and service propositions on a strategic, financial, and executional level. This provides a more seamless approach to supporting clients across multiple practice areas, across multiple markets, and over evolving stages of business development.

Asia Perspective Partners Daniel Karlsson and Alexander Ocieczek as well as the current company management will be integrated at a corporate level with Daniel and Alexander joining ARC Group as Managing Partners.

ARC Group Managing Partner Sergio Camarero commented: “This is a key milestone in our growth strategy. Asia Perspective gives us the right capabilities to offer our existing clients and expand ourselves. We observed an incremental number of Nordic companies interested in public listings abroad and we believe the acquisition of Asia Perspective will give us the right access to those companies. Having a local office in Sweden will allow us to provide a better service to the clients and enhance their confidence and trust. Asia Perspective is the 1^st piece of a wider plan as we intend to grow aggressively through acquisitions in the coming years. Our value proposition is very well-defined and we want to become an international financial institution reducing the gap between Asia and the rest of the world.”

Managing Partner Alexander Ocieczek commented: “Asia Perspective and ARC Group are complementing each other’s expertise and resources, which will enable us to offer our clients a more comprehensive set of services. We are excited to become part of such an ambitious company group and are confident in the strategy that will facilitate ARC Group’s position as the leading investment bank and advisor connecting East and West.”

About ARC Group

Established in 2016, ARC Group is a full-service financial institution deeply rooted in Asia with global reach. They are global leaders in M&A and Capital Markets advisory. According to spacinsider.com league tables, ARC ranks 1^st as M&A financial advisor by transactional value, market share and by number of transactions in 2022.

ARC Group works with companies to help them develop a comprehensive Capital Markets strategy, raise their visibility on the financial arena and position them for long-term success, regardless of whether they choose to pursue a strategic transaction, a round of financing, an IPO or SPAC. They provide a full spectrum of Investment Banking and Advisory services.

ARC Group acts as a bridge to connect Asia with Europe and America. With offices in mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, UAE, Mexico and New York, they are well-positioned to provide on-the-ground cross-border financial advisory services.

For more information, visit: https://arc-group.com/.

About Asia Perspective

Asia Perspective was founded in 2004 and is an independent consulting firm and service provider dedicated to supporting international enterprises operating in China and Southeast Asia. The company specializes in bridging the business ecosystems of Europe and East Asia, with services covering strategic advisory, market entry and expansion, operational setup and reorganization, production and sourcing, as well as cross-border M&A and financing.

Asia Perspective’s approach involves providing realizable advice and ‘on-the-ground’ hands-on support when implementing strategies and plans developed for clients. They offer both project-based advisory as well as continuous business services that unburden clients from setting up and managing their own organizations in Asia.

With almost two decades of experience in the region, Asia Perspective has supported many European market leaders in realizing their business goals and visions in Asia. Now the company can pride itself in counting many of these amongst its recurring clients.

For more information, visit: https://arc-group.com/consulting/.

Advisors

Taylor Wessing acted as legal counsel to ARC Group with Grant Thornton as the financial advisor. Schjødt acted as legal counsel to Asia Perspective on the transaction.

Contacts

ARC Group
Sergio Camarero
Managing Partner
sergio.camarero@arc-group.com

Asia Perspective
Alexander Ocieczek
Managing Partner
alexander.ocieczek@arc-group.com

ARC Consulting has conducted sourcing surveys since 2013, aiming to measure the perception of Asia as a sourcing market, and how this perception is changing over time. In 2021, the survey focused on disruption in supply chains and its effect on the sourcing landscape, covering topics such as container and semiconductor shortages.

Download and read the sourcing survey

Avoiding conflict minerals in your supply chain is an essential but complicated task to do.

Long and complex supply chains often make it difficult to trace the origins of the material, but understanding it is crucial to avoid contributing to human rights abuses and breaching legal regulations. Usually, on-site competence and extensive due diligence are required. Asia Perspective has extensive experience in sourcing and supply chain risk analysis, including performing due diligence on complex supply chains.

Here you can read more about our approach.

With a strong investment landscape and increasingly growing potential, ARC Consulting now introduces a new report examining the financial landscape, economic prospect and market trends in key Asian countries 2022.

Vietnam is a strong candidate for foreign investors from across the world. Its investor-friendly policies, extensive network of Foreign Trade Agreements (FTAs), economic and political stability, and cost-effectiveness are among the reasons Vietnam sustained positive FDI inflows throughout a heavily COVID-affected 2021. Investment in Vietnam is set for a robust rebound, as its economy is expected to strongly recover in 2022.

Download Investment Outlook Report

On October 21, 2021 at 10am (GMT +2), ARC Consulting and C2U Group will host a webinar presenting the results of our Sourcing Survey 2021. Sign up below.

ARC Consulting has been conducting yearly surveys on sourcing in China for the last decade, measuring the perception of China as a sourcing market and how it changes over time. This year, the survey focused on disruptions in supply chains and its effect on the sourcing landscape, covering topics such as container and semiconductor shortage.

Johan Annell – Partner, ARC Consulting.

Johan Annell is manager of ARC Consulting’s Beijing branch, fluent in Chinese and has a background in Swedish automotive industry. M.Sc. Industrial engineering and management from Chalmers University of technology.

Samir Falfoul – Partner, C2U Group.

Samir has a Bachelor degree in Logistics Management from University of Gothenburg, May 2009. He is a successful project leader, Supply Chain Specialist and Lean Specialist.

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We are proud to partner with Nordic Times Innovation to help Nordic companies to enter China, and take advantage of the great opportunities to utilize the Hainan Free Trade Port.

The island of Hainan has been designated as a “Free trade port” by China, with a long term legal framework to become a hub for global business cooperation.  A sector that has particularly favourable policies is the Life Science sector, where Nordic Times Innovation has built a strong platform and network with investors.

Nordic Times Innovation is a cross-border investment platform that connects Nordic Innovation and strategically deployed Chinese Investors, based in Stockholm and Hainan Hope City China. They established the Nordic-Hainan Life Science Center in Hope City Hainan and would share the most advanced resources with their investment portfolio of life science.

ARC Consulting and AYK Nordic has signed a strategic partnership with the aim to invest in, and support Nordic startups and growth companies that has significant involvement or potential in China and East Asia.

The parties will jointly evaluate investment cases and asses how they can help accelerate the companies. The vision is to invest only in cases where the expertise, operational infrastructure and network of ARC Consulting and AYK can significantly help the invested companies in succeeding. The cooperation targets both businesses that see China, or other Asian regions, as potential end-markets, as well as those that have significant exposure to the markets on the supply side.

AYK and ARC Consulting has complementing capabilities and networks, and together we can offer market leading access to the increasingly important Asian markets, as well as practical support on the ground in the region, says Alexander Ocieczek, Partner at ARC Consulting, and in charge of the undertaking from ARC Consulting’s side.

AYK Capital is a privately owned investment firm with operations in London, Stockholm and Shanghai.  They are engaged in the increasing integration of the Chinese and Western markets, by deploying capital into European investments, and providing Chinese corporations with access to the international financial system. Supported by investors with historical influence in China’s financial and securities fields, AYK’s majority shareholder AAT-Yunkun SH operates a USD 3 billion foreign exchange quota and USD 18 billion foreign debt quota through AYK Capital. AYK Capital has a diverse founding team, including senior investment professionals and business leaders from the UK, Sweden and China.

ARC Consulting is the most trusted and well recognized partner and service provider for Nordic companies in East and South East Asia. They are clearly specialized in bridging the gap between the business ecosystems of Northern Europe and East Asia. The services cover market entry and growth, operational setup and reorganization, production and sourcing, as well as cross-border M&A and financing. The company has a newly established venture arm that specialize in supporting startups and growth companies that the company believes can succeed in Asia.