At an EGM on Friday (April 21), shareholders of Terratech Group voted 100% for the reverse takeover of their company by Capital City Group. Here we feature the man who will be the new CEO.
 In Johor, Siow Chien Fu, 54, was the architect for various Carrefour, Giant and Tesco hypermarts, and the Batu Pahat shopping mall. Over the years, he has done work for big developers such as KSL, IJM, SP Setia, EcoWorld and UMLand.Photo: Company As a school student, Siow Chien Fu represented the Malaysian state of Malacca in table tennis. These days, he no longer plays the game even as a past-time but keenly watches games, including basketball, on TV, admiring their focus and competitiveness and instinctive moves. "If they have the same mindset in the real world doing business, a lot of them can be very successful." His life has been just like that: Focused and confident. "I enjoy my work. If you enjoy what you are doing, nothing can stop you," he says in an interview with NextInsight. He has no significant past-times outside of work, choosing instead to channel his energies into his work. In the last few years, he has morphed from being architect into property developer with big ambitions. At 54 now, the father of three sons (who are studying in the UK) traces his passion for architecture and property development to his undergraduate days in the US. In his third-year architecture course at the University of Kansas, he worked part-time and learnt from his boss how an architect can wear also the hat of a property developer. Mr Siow, having achieved accolades as an architect in Malaysia (his former firm, RDC, has been frequently ranked among the top 10 in Malaysia), is now CEO of property developer Capital City Group for what would be the biggest shopping mall in Johor when it is completed in the first quarter of 2018.  Siow Chien Fu with a model of Capital City in Tampoi, Johor, which is connected to major roads such as the Pasir Gudang highway and Skudai Highway. Photo by Leong Chan Teik The iconic mall is part of an integrated development (net present value of the estimated gross development value is RM2.416 billion, according to third-party valuation) with a 315-room hotel to be managed by Hilton Group, and 630 suites and 690 apartments. As the project was being constructed, his property development company, Capital City Property Sdn Bhd, inked a deal in June 2016 to reverse takeover Terratech Group, which is listed on the Catalist board of the Singapore Exchange. Under that deal, Capital City is valued at S$300 million. As consideration, its vendors -- Mr Siow and two partners -- will be issued new ordinary consolidates shares of Terratech at 28 cents apiece. The reverse takeover is expected to be completed in May 2017. Seen as a good fit for Capital City, Terratech owns one of the largest marble resources in Southeast Asia, and will supply marble for use in the Capital City project. |
Capital City was originally not meant to be.
The land owner, Gadang Holdings, had initially come up with a plan to build 84 shophouses on 40,851 sqm of land.
 "In 2011-2012, there were 70-80 submissions for approval by the Johor authority. All of them were for residential projects. Not even one was commercial. I saw a void."-- Siow Chien Fu (Photo by Leong Chan Teik) |
Considering the dearth of new shopping malls in Johor, Mr Siow instead proposed an intense development which would achieve greater economic returns.
Gadang's boss loved it as the project would significantly enhance the land asset value. Given the financial constraints, Mr Siow asked: "The only way to proceed is to have a JV agreement with you where the land cost will be paid to you progressively when the property units are sold. On the construction costs, I will be responsible. Would you take on this model?
"Gadang boss said 'yes' on the spot and was very confident about it."
At end-2013, the retail mall, named Capital 21, was launched and in June 2014, construction started.
Capital 21 will stand out with its thematic floors, depicting places such as America, Europe, Australia/Oceania, Asia and Africa/Middle East. The serviced apartments are expected to be launched for sale next year.
Going forward, Capital City will operate the same business model, said Mr Siow. It would be capital-light, partnering landowners with land parcels and offering high-value projects.