Temasek Holdings has opened its third office in Europe, as Singapore’s state investment agency sees further growth and opportunities in the EMEA region where the value of its portfolio has increased almost five times since 2011 to $47 billion as at March 31 2023.
The Paris office, opened on April 11, will complement London and Brussels in boosting Temasek’s global network that now consists of 13 offices across 9 countries.
Via this office, Temasek can have better access to deal flow and partnership opportunities, and grow its talent pool across EMEA, the acronym for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
“The Paris office opening signifies the importance of the EMEA region to Temasek, as we seek to advance our 2030 strategy to expand our global network and construct a resilient and forward looking portfolio, with sustainability at the core of what we do,” says executive director and CEO Dilhan Pillay.
Temasek chairman, Lim Boon Heng recalls how the organisation opened London, its first office in Europe just a decade ago, when the Continent was still facing economic uncertainty coming out of the Global Financial Crisis as well as the debt crises that hit Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain.
“Even then, I said that Temasek saw a deeper purpose in providing a bridge between Europe and Asia, and partnering European companies, both inside and outside Europe,” says Lim.
Among Temasek’s portfolio companies in EMEA, include Element Materials and Busy Bees in UK, Boortmalt in Belgium, Topsoe in Denmark, BioNTech in Germany, and Adyen in The Netherlands.
Specifically in France, Temasek’s investments include Alan a digital health insurer, ManoMano an e-commerce marketplace, Tikehau Capital an alternative asset manager, Ceva and InnovaFeed in sustainable agriculture, and PASQAL in quantum computing.
There’s also Schneider Electric, which is partnering with Temasek to expand its presence in India.
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According to Temasek, its investment activities are aligned to four structural trends, with a direct bearing on how the portfolio is constructed for the long term.
These include digitisation and sustainable living, as well as future of consumption and longer lifespans.
Nagi Hamiyeh, Temasek’s Head of EMEA, recognises the lead secured by some of Europe’s leading firms in sectors such as sustainable solutions, pharmaceuticals, consumer, financial services, technology and transportation and logistics.
“We expect to deploy significant capital into globally leading companies as well as promising emerging enterprises in these areas,” he adds.
(from left: Uwe Krueger, Vice Chairman of EMEA, Temasek; Benoit Valentin, Head of Partnership Solutions, Head of Private Equity Fund Investments, Head of Impact Investing, Deputy Head of EMEA, Temasek; Her Excellency Minh-di Tang, Ambassador of France to Singapore; Her Excellency Foo Teow Lee, Ambassador of Singapore to France; Bruno Le Maire, Minister for the Economy, Finance, Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, France; Lawrence Wong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Singapore; Lim Boon Heng, Chairman, Temasek Holdings; Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Singapore; Dilhan Pillay, Executive Director and CEO, Temasek Holdings; Nagi Hamiyeh, Head of EMEA, Temasek
