Temasek president seeks winding up of Primus’ Singapore unit
The Singapore unit of Primus Pacific Partners is being sued by Lee Theng Kiat, president of Temasek Holdings, over S$67,802 ($53,760) in unpaid rent on a bungalow. According to papers filed with the Singapore High Court, Lee and his wife are seeking a winding up order for Primus Ventures (Singapore).
The case is due to be heard on April 13. Primus failed to pay the monthly rent of S$35,000 on the property for October through December, breaching a two-year tenancy agreement, Bloomberg reported, citing the complaint. In February, the private equity firm responded to an earlier court order and paid part of the S$135,638 it owed at the time.
The complaint added that Primus failed to use the premises and furniture in a careful manner, leaving Lee and his wife with a repair bill they estimate will run to S$38,800. The bungalow has seven bedrooms as well as a koi pond, garage and guest house. Similar properties are said to be worth at least S$20 million.
Primus Pacific was set up in 2005 by Guocang Huan, formerly head of Asia Pacific investment banking at HSBC, and Wing-Fai Ng, formerly managing director and head of corporate strategy at Fubon Financial. It closed its debut fund in 2008 at $352 million, having originally sought $500 million, according to AVCJ Research. Major investments include EON Capital and New China Life Insurance.
Huan departed from the board of New China Life in March. A filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange said this was due to a change in his work arrangements.
Primus created another investment arm, Primus Financial Holdings, in 2009 and brought in Robert Morse, former head of Asia investment banking at Citigroup, as managing director, chairman and co-CEO. An attempted acquisition of Taiwan's Nan Shan Life Insurance for $2.2 billion - in collaboration with Hong Kong-listed China Strategic Holdings - ground to a halt in 2010 as a result of regulatory opposition.
Lee took up his role with Temasek on April 1, having previously served as CEO of ST Telemedia, one of the sovereign wealth fund's portfolio companies. He is president alongside John Cryan and Gregory Curl.
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