Singapore billionaire Lim said to hire LVMH private equity's Teo

[SINGAPORE] Peter Lim, the Singapore billionaire who owns Spain's Valencia soccer team, hired Christina Teo from LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA's private-equity arm to run a new investment unit, people familiar with the matter said.

Ms Teo, who was a managing director at L Capital Asia, joined Mr Lim's Singapore-based Catpital Pte this month as chief executive officer, the people said. She will source overseas investments for the billionaire, as well as increase value at some of Lim's existing portfolio companies, one of the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.

Mr Lim, a former stockbroker, made his fortune through holdings in palm oil producers and a chain of Manchester United cafes in Asia. He also has stakes in supercar maker McLaren Automotive Ltd, Singapore property developer Rowsley Ltd and security provider Soverus Group Pte.

Catpital may seek investments in Europe, where valuations have fallen, focusing on industries where Lim has experience such as sports, automobiles, health care and hospitality, one person said.

Ms Teo left L Capital Asia effective March 31 to pursue alternative career options, the firm's human resources director, Annie Chee, said in an e-mailed statement.

Last year Mr Lim spent 420 million euros (S$606.96 million) to acquire Valencia Club de Futbol, currently ranked fourth in Spain's La Liga, Singapore's Straits Times newspaper reported in May. In 2011, he took health-care provider Thomson Medical Centre Ltd private for S$522 million, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Ms Teo, a former director at Deutsche Bank AG, had been with L Capital Asia since 2012 leading its investments in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. The private-equity firm last year bought stakes in the Crystal Jade Culinary Concepts Holding Pte restaurant chain, known for its steamed dumplings and spicy noodles, and Ku De Ta Group, which operates the 57th-floor bar at the top of Singapore's Marina Bay Sands hotel.

BLOOMBERG