The Oceanus Group was on the verge of collapse and thousands of retirees faced the loss of their life savings, then CEO Peter Koh stepped down to orchestrate an epic turnaround for abalone producers.
When Peter Koh passed his highly successful global brand business PETE'When S Creation International achieved early retirement, he achieved a lifestyle that many people could only dream of. However, after four years of indulgently enjoying his hard-earned wealth in countless countries around the world, he began to twitch a little.
After all, this is a man who has been working since he was a child, when he had two or three jobs to supplement his family's meager income.
So in 2014, when the then 49-year-old was introduced to executives at Oceanus Group, the world's largest land-based abalone producer, his interest was piqued.
Koh told Asia: "For a retiree to come back and do something, it has to have purpose and meaning. ”
At that time, Oceanus had sunk to the watch list of the Singapore Exchange, with a debt of $94 million.
To spearhead the company's transformation, Koh found the purpose and meaning he had been looking for when he attended the first shareholder meeting.
"I quickly realized that most of the company's 10,000 shareholders were retirees and seniors," he recalls. ”
If the company goes bankrupt, all these people lose all their savings. ”
Koh only intended to join as an independent director, but when the opportunity arose to change the fortunes of shareholders for the better, he took on the role of CEO.
In the first face-to-face encounter with investors, he also did not throw punches.
The first thing that came out of my mouth when I stood on stage and gave a ** speech to shareholders as CEO was:'The company is very sick. Unless we admit it and do something about it, we're not going to get any better.
After I **, I was asked to review any future speeches – but I was a guy called Spades.
I think shareholders appreciate that honesty after I explained the three phases that I wanted to implement. ”
KOH embarked on a three-pronged strategy to clean-up, build, and technology.
We have to clean up the mess before we can move on. Then we must be able to put food on the table to be able to feed ourselves. Finally, we have to upgrade our technology to move into the future," he said.
Today, we have passed the first two stages. We have established a company in multiple countries with a variety of disciplines, all of which are brick-and-mortar businesses.
The next thing we're going to do is digitize all these businesses, because if we don't change, we could be the dinosaurs of tomorrow. ”
When asked about the company's investment in digitalization, Koh spoke about the trifecta of e-commerce, e-payments and e-procurement.
"As we speak, Oceanus Digital Network (ODIN) is under development with a focus on the metaverse, and Oceanus Media Global even has the most advanced augmented reality studio in Southeast Asia," he said. ”
I don't know if digitalization is right or wrong, or if it will bring new growth. But I do know that if we don't change, we're going to fall behind.
I once told my shareholders that 15-20 years ago, it was unthinkable to say that we would be able to use mobile phones to shop. Now it's a way of life.
We are very attentive and we have to be vigilant about what happens next. If we fall into an unprepared situation, we must be in a situation where we can adapt. ”
If we are caught in an unprepared situation, we must be in a situation where we can adapt. ”
So far, the three steps of KOH have proven to be superb. Oceanus is now in the stage of the future, with a strong financial position and a trusted long-term partner like Kwang Yeow Heng.
In one of his proudest moments since joining Oceanus, he was able to stand in front of shareholders in 2017 and tell them "we did it" after nearly three years of calling the company "sick".
Through debt restructuring efforts, KOH brought the company back to the black market and removed it from the Singapore Exchange's watch list.
The event was our annual general meeting, and after the announcement, they all came to the stage, with tears streaming down their cheeks, hugging and thanking us. ”
It was an emotional journey for all of us on the management team, but at that moment, we felt that all the sacrifices were worth it. Most companies start from scratch, but we came out of the basement. ”
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