Mary Chia Holdings Limited (MCH) was a provider of lifestyle and wellness services for women and men in Singapore and Malaysia. Listed on the Singapore Catalist, the company had experienced a decline in financial performance and share price. On August 24, 2017, MCH announced that its founder would sell her 60.98 per cent stake to Suki Sushi Private Ltd., an unlisted company tightly controlled by the daughter and son-in-law of MCH’s founder. Suki Sushi’s offer was at SG$0.111 per share, which was almost double the closing price. Should current MCH shareholders accept Suki Sushi’s offer and sell their shares, and does Suki Sushi’s offer constitute an investment opportunity for investors not currently holding MCH shares?

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Samsui Supplies & Services Private Limited provided 1.8 million meals annually to long-term care facilities in Singapore through the company’s flagship project, Samsui Central Kitchen. The company had won accolades for its work, and in April 2018, the director felt that the time was right to expand the project. He wondered, however, how he would illustrate to the organization’s key stakeholders the social impact Samsui was having in the SG$89 million market of providing meals for long-term care facilities. To gain support for scaling up Samsui’s initiatives and maximizing the social impact the company was delivering, the director needed to quantify the impact of the company’s corporate social responsibility initiatives in a clear and simple message to its various stakeholders.

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This case provides an interesting example of a traditional business being disrupted by a new business based on the sharing economy. Taxi Club Management (TCM) was the largest taxi fleet in New York City and was doing well until Uber came along. The case traces the entry of Uber and the disruption to TCM’s business, resulting in the eventual bankruptcy of TCM.

In 2012, the founders of food wholesale company FoodXervices Inc. Pte. Ltd. identified a gap between food wastage and food insecurity in Singapore. To reduce this gap, they established a charity arm, The Food Bank Singapore Ltd., which operated as a liaison, collecting near-to-expiry, excess, and unwanted food products from food suppliers, retailers, and restaurants for distribution to beneficiary organizations. When the charity was founded, it was set up to be legally independent to ensure clearer accounts and audits and to prevent false allegations of misuse of food donations. In April 2018, the founders were considering integrating these two now-mature entities to take advantage of potential internal and external synergies. They needed to determine the optimal way to integrate the two entities, while considering the needs of all stakeholders.

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The initial public offering of the Chinese company, Xiaomi Corporation (Xiaomi), would start trading on the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Market (HKEx) on July 9, 2018. The CEO of Xiaomi argued that the company should be priced like an internet firm, since internet services and internet of things formed a major part of the firm’s strategy and profit, and hence should command a higher valuation. Some analysts, however, attached a lower value to Xiaomi, which was viewed as a smart phone manufacturer since this segment contributed the majority of the firm’s revenue. Hence, this case provides an opportunity for students to value a company that operates in diverse business segments: smartphone manufacturer, internet services and internet of things

In 2014, the vice-president of Group Corporate Social Responsibility at Singtel, a Singapore-based provider of telecommunications products and services, was scrutinizing his proposal for the company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) transformation. He wanted to reposition Singtel’s CSR approach to create greater social impact while demonstrating greater benefit to the company beyond promoting its branding and reputation. In doing so, he was mindful that the proposal would require greater financial investment on the part of the company. The proposal would also need to leverage the company’s capabilities and partnerships and address the possibility of dropping its current beneficiaries. His team needed to convince the board of directors and senior management that the potential benefits of the proposed changes would be worth the financial investment and the possibility of reduced brand exposure.

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On April 14, 2014, CapitaLand Limited, a Singapore-based real estate company, launched a voluntary conditional cash offer of SG$2.22 for each share (SG$3.06 billion in total) of its subsidiary commercial property development and management company, CapitaMalls Asia Limited (CMA). CMA’s principal business strategy was to invest in, develop, and manage a diversified portfolio of real estate used primarily for retail purposes in Asia. CapitaLand’s offer represented a 22.3 per cent premium over CMA’s closing price of SG$1.815 on April 11, 2014. The intention was to delist CMA and fully integrate it into CapitaLand. As an investor in CMA, you are seeking a reasonable valuation of CMA based on its past financial performance and other relevant market information. You also need to compute the premium, net present value (NPV), and synergy of the acquisition.

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In 2018, the Singapore-based telecommunication operator StarHub Ltd. (StarHub) acknowledged that in 2017 its total revenue was relatively flat and its net profit had declined. In the face of rising competition and a slowing global economy, the company needed to explore new sources of revenue growth. Two areas of growth seemed promising. The first area involved the launch of StarHub’s smart retail analytics for small and medium enterprises in the retail food and beverages industry, which had been experiencing a high churn rate. The second area would apply StarHub’s new robotics and automation solutions in the labour-intensive hospitality industry, which suffered from an oversupply of properties and would likely see exits and consolidation. StarHub needed to choose between the two investment options.

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To obtain a free copy of the case, please contact Ms Kwok Siew Geok (bizksg@nus.edu.sg)

This family business case explores succession in hybrid families in Asia, where founders rarely retire with a clear succession plan and often prefer a coparcenary model, leaving the family susceptible to feuds. The Evergreen Group, one of the largest family-owned conglomerates in Taiwan, with a focus on shipping (Evergreen Marine) and airlines (EVA Air) falls into this category. It was founded in 1968 by Chang Yung-Fa. After his demise in 2016, the family discovered a will declaring the youngest son, who had a passion for flying, the overall Group Chairman and sole heir. In a dramatic turn, his three elder brothers staged a coup, ousting their youngest sibling while the latter was piloting a flight. Not discouraged, the younger son subsequently started his own airline …

On April 9, 2017, law enforcement officers dragged passenger Mr. David Dao off United Airlines, Inc. (United) Flight 3411 from Chicago, IL, to Louisville, KY. United had decided to fly four crew members to a connecting flight in Louisville at the last minute and needed to bump four passengers from the plane. When there were no volunteers, the flight manager identified the passengers that were to be removed and be re-accommodat­ed according to the involuntary denial of boarding selection process. Of the passengers selected, Dao was the only one who refused to comply. The airline manager responded by calling upon law enforcement officers from the Chicago Department of Aviation who then forcefully dragged him off the plane. Dao suffered a con­cussion, a broken nose, and lost two teeth as a result of the treatment. The incident was recorded by several passengers on the flight and went viral on social media, resulting in public outrage. The initial response by CEO Oscar Munoz was inadequate, leading to public backlash.

This case introduces the overbooking practice in the airline industry and illustrates problems that United faces in terms of service quality. The case encourages students to delve into what United could do to mitigate ser­vice failure.