The billionaire behind Haidilao International Holding, the world’s biggest chain of hotpot restaurants, has opened a family office in Singapore to help manage her wealth.
Billionaire Shu Ping was appointed the sole shareholder and director of Sunrise Capital Management in July, based on filings lodged with Singapore’s national regulator of business entities.
The co-founder of Hong Kong-listed Haidilao, is one of Singapore’s richest people with a net worth of around $7.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Her husband is also a billionaire - worth $7.7 billion.
Family Office For Super-Rich
Family offices are businesses created to manage the finances (and sometimes the family affairs) of the world’s ultra-rich, providing a level of discretion and personalized services beyond those offered by private banks.
At the moment, it is unclear if Sunrise Capital will manage the couple’s combined wealth. A December filing reveals that Shu has full authority to issue shares in the entity.
Score For Singapore
Selecting Singapore as a base represents a major win for the city-state, which continues to brand itself as a wealth management hub. Singapore’s government has been offering tax breaks and other incentives through agencies such as the Economic Development Board to attract the world’s billionaires.
Both Shu Ping and her husband are also naturalized citizens, who purchased an S$27 million ($19.4 million) home near the Botanic Gardens several years ago. Haidilao is well-known for its Chinese spicy soup restaurants, some of which also offer free massages and manicures to customers while they wait in queues. The family business, which started in 1994, has become a food-service giant with almost 600 outlets spanning Beijing to New York.
Critical Times
Sunrise Capital’s creation comes at a time when Haidilao faces the effects of the coronavirus outbreak. The restaurant chain, which gets about 91% of its revenue from mainland China, has to shut its restaurants there in late January because of the outbreak. Until now, only partial delivery is available online.
China Citic Bank International and aiBank said last month they would extend a 2.1 billion yuan ($303 million) line of credit to Haidilao to help it ride out the impact from the virus, according to a statement on aiBank’s WeChat account.
