Space Matrix to enter China market by buying design firm

Singapore

SINGAPORE-BASED Space Matrix is entering China by buying a local interior design and construction company called Muraya, as the workplace design and consultancy guns for growth on the back of the Chinese office market.

The purchase will give Space Matrix a headcount of over 400 across its offices in eight markets: Singapore, India, Hong Kong, China, the Philippines, Australia, Thailand and the US.

Muraya, which has a headcount of 45, has offices in Shanghai and Beijing and has delivered more than 500 projects in China in the last decade of its operations and has had clients such as Abbott, Alibaba and Kimberly-Clark.

It will be rebranded Space Matrix China post-acquisition, and that part of the business is expected to double its headcount in the next four years.

"Having expanded our Pan-Asian footprint off the back of our dominant position in South-east Asia, Hong Kong and India, entering China was a natural growth strategy for us," said Arsh Chaudhry, the chief executive of Space Matrix.

He said Space Matrix chose to acquire Muraya due to its long history in China - it began in the mid-1960s designing interior objects before branching into interior design.

"Coupled with our global capabilities, we have a winning combination where we can provide international design concepts to clients in China," Mr Chaudhry said.

Space Matrix, which was founded in 2001, designed over 6.9 million square feet of commercial real estate in the last year. Recent projects in Singapore were for clients such as Uber, Li Fung and IBM.

Mr Chaudhry said that Space Matrix's revenues are on track to grow 40 per cent to hit S$165 million this year, with 45 per cent of its topline currently coming from India, a quarter from Singapore and the rest spread across markets including Australia, Hong Kong and Thailand.

It hopes to double its revenues and have Greater China contribute 20 to 25 per cent to Space Matrix's topline over the next four years.

In that time period, it sees India contributing about 40 per cent to revenues, Singapore contributing about 20 per cent, with the balance coming from Australia and other parts of South-east Asia.

"Once we integrate the business with Space Matrix, we will see a lot of our global clients reaching out to us to assist them with their China needs," Mr Chaudhry said.

Space Matrix will also look to the Middle East and the UK as future growth markets and explore more M&A opportunities across the globe.

"While we will not be present in every city in Asia, we certainly want to be in every major economic hub and we want to have a significant market share delivering cutting-edge solutions for our clients," he said.

Mr Chaudhry said that its competitors globally are the likes of Gensler, HOK and SOM.

"We believe that we will stay ahead of our competitors if we model our solutions that impact our clients' businesses and provide quality and consistency," he said, citing the use of technology in its design, build and procurement processes, and investment in leadership acceleration programmes.

Space Matrix has also received support, advice and assistance from IE Singapore through its Global Company Partnership programme.

Love Englund, founder and APAC director of Muraya, will relocate to Cambodia to pursue other interests, said Space Matrix.

"We realised that we needed a strong global partner to continue giving our clients outstanding workspace solutions," Mr Englund said. "Together, we can share experiences and research globally to continually outperform our competitors."

Meanwhile, Felix Jiang, co-founder and director of Muraya in Shanghai, will become general manager in Shanghai for Space Matrix following the acquisition.

"We are confident that with this alliance with Space Matrix, there will be wider knowledge-sharing and it will further reinforce our business operations in China," Mr Jiang said. "We will significantly enhance our competitiveness and continue to compete with the best industry giants."