Diversifying to stay ahead (Amended)

IN 2010, the then 30-year-old Top Global Limited (TGL) found itself at a crossroads. From covering property development, facility management, childcare, and construction, it was streamlining its focus to build the company into a premier lifestyle property group.

This followed the announcement that Sukmawati Widjaja, vice-chairman of the Indonesian Sinar Mas conglomerate, was purchasing a significant stake in TGL. It dropped its construction and childcare subsidiaries soon after as part of its strategy to discontinue non-core businesses.

But the firm had not expected cooling measures being planned for the real estate sector. The measures began in 2009 with the removal of the interest absorption…