SINGAPORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fat Projects Acquisition Corp. (the “Company” or “FATP”), who recently filed for a proposed US$100 million initial public offering (“IPO”) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") sponsored by an affiliate of Fat Projects Pte. Ltd., today announced the appointment of its Senior Advisory Board, effective immediately.
The Senior Advisory Board comprises five individuals including Alan Beattie, Jonathan Cohen, Shinta Dhanuwardoyo, Ziad Kabbara, and Axel Winter. They were chosen with the objective of assisting the executive management team in sourcing suitable acquisition targets, in-country access and providing business insights during the assessment of potential business combination targets, as well as driving additional value in the business that the Company acquires.
“Our Senior Advisory Board along with our Board provides us personal access to founders and technology-led companies in our target growth markets of Southeast Asia (SEA),” said David Andrada, Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer. “The attractiveness of our SPAC is that we have a highly talented team and network that can immediately add value to the company in our initial business combination.”
Alan Beattie was one of HSBC Group's distinguished Executive Leaders having joined the firm in 1988 as an international manager and has had a wide range of experience in banking in Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. Having been born and raised in Singapore, Mr. Beattie is passionate about the opportunity in Southeast Asia and other parts of Asia, and will be bringing his deep banking knowledge coupled with leadership and corporate governance expertise. Mr. Beattie’s most recent role at HSBC was Global Head & CEO Private Wealth Solutions and previously was Regional Head of Latin America Commercial Bank as well as Deputy CEO Europe.
Jonathan Cohen is a serial entrepreneur based out of Singapore for over 10 years. Initially in the e-gaming/sports industry, and most recently as the CEO of Paneco.com, the largest E-commerce alcohol company in South East Asia launched in 2017. Prior to his entrepreneurial ventures, Mr. Cohen spent time between New-York and Tel Aviv as a senior executive in a leading global consultancy firm and as an M&A lawyer for one of the largest Israeli law firms, Balter, Guth, Aloni & Co. He has led numerous international M&A transactions and is providing significant insights into the valuation and structuring of global deals.
Shinta Dhanuwardoyo is the founder of Bubu.com, started as a full-service data-driven digital agency, turned venture builder with a special knack of digital marketing (including from esports to startups). Previously, Ms. Dhanuwardoyo was the CEO of Plasa.com (known as Blanja.com after 2012), a Telkom Indonesia owned e-commerce marketplace, and the Managing Partner at Nusantara Ventures, a pioneering technology venture capital fund in Indonesia aimed at helping entrepreneurs create and grow market-leading digital media companies throughout the region. Ms. Dhanuwardoyo is currently the head of the permanent committee for Digital Business, e-Commerce and Startups Development at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Indonesia (KADIN).
Ziad Kabbara has over 20 years’ experience in a wide range of finance and banking roles including Global Markets, Foreign Exchange, Payments, Liquidity and Cash Management. Based in Los Angeles, Mr. Kabbara is now a personal investor, cryptocurrency enthusiast and day trader. Previously based in New York City, Mr. Kabbara led the Transport, Aviation, Logistics and Professional Service sales teams globally for HSBC Bank for the firm’s Global Liquidity and Cash Management Division. Until 2014, he was working from San Francisco with corporate and institutional clients, helping them navigate global expansion, highly focused on guiding Silicon Valley technology companies into Asia. Prior to joining HSBC, Mr. Kabbara was working with Commonwealth Bank of Australia until 2010 where he was involved with major Australian ASX listed companies scaling internationally.
Axel Winter is the Chief Digital Officer for Siam Piwat Group, a Bangkok-based luxury mall operator, and retail and development company. He has been a tech leader in Southeast Asia since 1994, having held Chief Technology Officer positions for numerous companies specifically in the finance and retail sectors, with most recent roles for Central Retail Corporation in Bangkok and prior to that as the Global Head Enterprise Architecture & Technology Strategy for Standard Chartered Bank. Mr. Winter has also held leadership positions for tech consultancies such as Accenture and enterprises such as GE Capital and Cisco Systems in Thailand. Mr. Winter’s public markets experience includes his senior contribution to the initial public offering of Central Retail Corp which was Thailand’s largest IPO at that time.
“Our team has a rich operating track record with demonstrated ability to launch, operate and scale digital business, creating significant value for our stakeholders,” said Tristan Lo, Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board. “We believe the collective experience of our team positions us uniquely to both assess promising candidates and support companies to success in achieving their short- and long-term objectives.”
“We have assembled a team of executives and entrepreneurs from some of the largest multinational companies in the world to lead and advise us,” said Nils Michaelis, President, Chief Operating Officer and Head of Mergers & Acquisition. “We are global thinkers with a deep level understanding of the intricacies and cultures of Asian markets, how they work, and what it takes to be successful on the ground.”
Fat Projects Acquisition Corp. intends to identify, merge with and take public a business that is well positioned to deliver superior growth across Southeast Asia. Its management is associated with Fat Projects Pte. Ltd., which was established by Mr. Andrada and Mr. Lo in 2015.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities.
About Fat Projects Acquisition Corporation
Fat Projects Acquisition Corporation has assembled a team of executives and entrepreneurs from some of the most successful multinational companies in the world to lead our SPAC. The sponsor team structure was carefully designed to provide relevant experience and networks in the region, ensure the success of the SPAC and the continued growth of the business it acquires. The team brings a combined 100+ years of relevant market experience in Southeast Asia, directly related to sustainability, finance, supply chain, e-commerce and big data and how to monetize B2C and B2B relationships in a digital world. For more information, visit http://www.fatprojectscorp.com/
About Fat Projects Private Limited
Fat Projects is a Singapore headquartered investment and venture studio established in 2015 with growth capital deployed across a portfolio of assets in Technology, Fintech, Education, Hospitality, E-commerce, Food Technology. Our mission is to build and accelerate entrepreneurial projects with fun, talented, resilient, and ethically committed people; with a laser focus on unlocking shareholder value.
The company was co-founded by David Andrada and Tristan Lo, two partners who respectively bring a nexus between 20 years of high end global banking and a 20 year career built on entrepreneurialism. In 2021, Nils Michaelis, who has lived in Singapore since 2013, joined the company as Managing Partner. These polarising skill sets come together to provide a very unique approach when creating new projects in-house or accelerating existing projects we join.
We have two parts to our studio. Firstly, we love building start-ups. Fat Projects takes a hands-on approach to its own ventures through deployment of its own capital, identifying co-founders and assisting with strategy, technology and further capital initiatives along the way. Secondly, we love accelerating emerging growth companies who are looking to scale and solve big problems through a tech-enabled and entrepreneurial approach. For more information, visit http://www.fatprojects.com/
