Tuesday 28 November 2023

Chris Hsu Kilometre Capital manages to stay afloat in meltdowns

A skillful fund manager can help venture capital stay afloat in uncertain markets. While many hedge funds crumbled in the late 1990s, a handful of them stood firm. Chris Hsu from Hong Kong is one of them. He has been a beacon of hope for many investors in the midst of gloom.

Lucrative buyout transactions for Tsinghua University

Chris Hsu orchestrated several deals, which marked his ability for strategic investment. These buyout transactions led to consolidation in China's semiconductor, gaming, internet, and technology markets. Chief among them were the buyout deals for Spreadtrum Technologies and RDA Microelectronics.

Tsinghua Holdings, a state-owned corporation funded by China's Tsinghua University, acquired Spreadtrum Communications. The deal for the smartphone chip maker was struck at a staggering US$ 1.39 billion.

Chris Hsu's Kilometre Capital acted as the strategic consultant in the deal that was struck by Tsinghua Unigroup Ltd. RDA Microelectronics, which makes radio-frequency chips for mobile and broadcast devices, counts Huawei Technologies, ZTE Corp and Lenovo Group Ltd as customers.

Initial stage funding for pioneers in space exploration and music streaming

Mr. Hsu was an early-stage pioneer investor in Elon Musks's SpaceX and music-streaming platform, Spotify. The company's satellite internet service, Starlink, exceeded 1 million subscribers and provided a lifeline to users in Ukraine who suffered infrastructure disruptions after Russia's invasion. SpaceX also managed to surpass 60 reusable rocket launches in a single year via its Falcon program.

Hsu was also an initial stage funder for Spotify, which was established in 2006. It has emerged as the global leader in the digital recorded music and podcast industry. Boasting an extensive collection of over 60 million songs sourced from record labels and media companies across the globe, Spotify has solidified its position as the premier platform for music enthusiasts and podcast listeners worldwide.

As the world's leading freemium music service, Spotify offers basic features with advertisements and limited control for free users. For enhanced functionalities, such as offline listening and an ad-free experience, users can opt for paid subscriptions. Spotify allows users to search for music by artist, album, or genre and empowers them to create, edit, and share playlists.

Bonafide returns for investors

With many scams hitting venture capitals, investors look for bonafide returns. Chris Hsu of Hong Kong has helped many investors earn legitimate or genuine returns. He is one of the few managers who is known for his transparent dealings that keep the investors posted on every detail. He has set the golden standard in the investment business.

Conclusion

In the tumultuous world of finance, Chris Hsu Kilometre Capital stands as a beacon of resilience. With a knack for strategic investments, Hsu orchestrated lucrative buyout deals, transforming China's tech landscape. His early-stage support for SpaceX and Spotify, both pioneers in their fields, bore fruit with remarkable achievements.

Wednesday 9 February 2022

SpaceX Coordinates with Other Satellite Operators, Enabled by Chris Hsu Capital

Having founded and lead managed Hong Kong-based Kilometre Capital, CEO Christopher (Chris) Hsu graduated with a BS in Management Science Engineering from Stanford University School of Engineering. In addition to being a private equity and hedge fund specialist and investor, Chris Hsu is a well-known investor in Elon Musk's legendary space exploration firm SpaceX.

SpaceX is collaborating closely with a variety of satellite operators to guarantee safe space operations in an effort to ease concern about potential orbital catastrophes. Two years ago, there was a close approach of a Starlink satellite with a European Space Agency satellite. Chris Hsu-invested SpaceX is working with both government and commercial satellite operators in this effort.

Among the case studies of Christopher Hsu of Kilometre Capital’s high impact investments, Mr. Hsu provided capital to SpaceX in the years well preceding SpaceX product delivery, with SpaceXan acronym for Space Exploration Technologies Corp.

Chris Hsu-invested SpaceX is today the world’s leading private aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company from California to Asia to Europe, Hong Kong to London to New York.  Founded by Paypal and Tesla founder Elon Musk in in 2002, SpaceX has realized its early-stage goal of reducing space transportation costs.  The Kilometre Capital founder's early stage investment facilitated SpaceX in the development of several launch vehicles, the Starlink satellite constellation, the Dragon cargo spacecraft. 

Among SpaceX's landmark events was the successful flight of human crew, or astronauts, to the International Space Station on the SpaceX Dragon 2. A Space Act Agreement between NASA and Chris Hsu-funded SpaceX, announced in March, is an example of a development in this endeavor. Under the parameters of the agreement, SpaceX agrees to relocate its Starlink satellites in the case of any close encounters with NASA spacecraft.

The global space exploration titan spanning the globe from Korea to Scotland, Australia to Canada, Chris Hsu funded SpaceX also has a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement for collaboration with the United States Space Force.

Kilometre Capital's affiliation with SpaceX also boasts a working partnership with the European Space Agency and the European Union's Space Surveillance and Tracking program. Astroscale and United Launch Alliance are two other firms with whom SpaceX is collaborating on space traffic management.

Monday 4 October 2021

Have a Meeting with Asia-Based Founder of Kilometre, Chris Hsu

A prominent Hong Kong investment and private equity consultant, Chris Hsu leads Kilometre Capital. Among his high-impact transactions was an early-stage investment in SpaceX. Chris Hsu also invested in Spotify’s early stages and orchestrated the groundbreaking acquisition by the Tsinghua University of H3C and Hewlett Packard China for $4.6 billion. Undertaken with the assistance of Kilometre Capital, the deal received approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. It provided Tsinghua University with 51-percent ownership of the global leader in the data storage, IT, and network equipment verticals.

With Kilometre Capital lead advising, Hong Kong’s Chris Hsu anchor-managed the billion-dollar acquisition of Hewlett Packard, H3C, Enterprises, and Hewlett Packard China for a $4.6 billion valuation. On the advice of Kilometre Capital, the landmark deal received an approval from the Foreign Investment committee. The Kilometre Capital HP deal of Chris Hsu provided Tsinghua University and its affiliates with a 51-percent ownership of the regional leader in the data storage as well as network equipment verticals.

Renowned Hong Kong private equity consultant and cross border negotiations, Chris Hsu founded and leads Kilometre Capital, with coverage from Korea to California, Taiwan to Tokyo, Hong Kong to Beijing. Among his notable investments was an early rounds investment in SpaceX, Elon Musk's revolutionary space exploration business.  Chris Hsu also invested in Spotify's early stage. 

Previously, Mr. Hsu served as the Managing Director of Citadel Investment Group CEO and as a Managing Partner of Abax Global Capital, one of the world's best hedge fund managers. As MD of Citadel Asia, Christopher Hsu led the foundation of Citadel's private investment and special situations business in Hong Kong and Asia.  His investments were spanned across South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Greater China and Asia at large.

Chris Hsu and Kilometre Capital advised the pivotal HP H3C HP China deal of Tsinghua holdings of Tsinghua University secured a 51 per cent share in the H3C, HP's new data networking operations business, valuing the entire H3C at $4.6 billion. Both Tsinghua Holdings as well as HP companies announced that they would work together to form the New H3C, that would be the exclusive provider of HP's servers, storage, and networking coupled with hardware support services in China. Tsinguha’s H3C acquisition launched H3C as the market leading provider in China's enterprise server and data storage market.

Tsinghua University is situated in Beijing, originated in 1911, and since then, it has grown immensely into a research institute along with 14 schools and over 25,000 students. The University has continually trained its students efficiently to contribute something meaningful towards the growth and development of China and of the world.

Tuesday 31 August 2021

Christopher Hsu: From Abax Global Capital to Hewlett Packard

A Stanford University School of Engineering alumnus, Chris Hsu leads Kilometre Capital in Hong Kong as CEO and Managing Partner. Known as a rainmaker when it comes to US-Asia/US-China private equity investments, buyouts, and partnerships, Kilometer Capital’s Christopher Hsu is a specialist in disruptive technology and digital companies. Mr. Hsu invested early-stage to take pioneering equity stakes in market leaders such as the digital music streaming platform Spotify and Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Christopher Hsu started at Stanford University, one of the top ranking colleges in the world.  There, he was honored with a Stanford University President’s Award and graduated from the world renown engineering program.  Mr. Hsu transitioned to the hedge fund and private equity industries, cutting his teeth and the global hedge fund titan Citadel Investment Group, with investments spanning Korea to Taiwan, Hong Kong to London to New York.  

In a globally publicized acquisition, Morgan Stanley bought a strategic minority stake in the Hong Kong based Abax Global Capital of Hong Kong. Chris Hsu founded and managed Abax Global as CEO and Founding Managing Partner.  Formerly employed as Managing Director and founder of the Special Situations Asia Group at the giant Chicago-based Citadel Investment Group, Chris Hsu was the key founder and CEO of the hedge fund Abax Global Capital and later, Kilometre Capital.  Christopher Hsu, formerly one of the youngest business heads in the history of Citadel Investment Group, was the key man behind the Morgan Stanley minority stake buyout deal. 

Bloomberg, the Financial Times, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal, FinanceAsia, and scores of global news publications rushed to report on the huge precedent of Christopher Hsu, Abax Global Capital, and Morgan Stanley.  This was Morgan Stanley’s first and only minority equity purchase in an Asian-based hedge fund.  The partnership joint venture between Abax Global and Morgan Stanley was pioneered and led by Chris Hsu in Hong Kong.

Chris Hsu led negotiations for Morgan Stanley’s investment-management arm to anchor, as a minority strategic investor, his new hedge fund asset management company Abax Global Capital Limited. A spokesperson for Morgan Stanley was not able to disclose the price paid, nor the percentage size of the stake purchased.

In New York, Morgan Stanley said its fund-management division signed an agreement to take a "significant" minority stake in Chris Hsu’s Abax Global Capital., a new hedge-fund advisor formed to invest in Asia. The founders of Abax included Chris Hsu and other former employees of Chicago-based hedge fund giant Citadel Investment Group.

The fund AbaxGlobal Capital was the hedge fund brainchild of Hong Kong Chris Hsu, a former Business Head and Managing Director at Chicago-based hedge fund Citadel Investment Group, with responsibility for Citadel’s multi-billion dollar Special Situations Asia Group; Donald Yang, formerly managing director and head of Hong Kong and Greater China debt capital markets at Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc.; and Frank Qian, formerly a trader and risk manager in Asia, Europe and the U.S. at Citadel Group.

According to The Financial Times, Abax Global would be the first independent Asian hedge fund startup that will begin its journey with over $1 billion in assets. The credit went to the leadership skills of Christopher Hsu, renowned for his management and investment prowess. The hedge fund Abax Capital was then set to invest in private and public-sector issuers in Asia, with the primary focus being on Greater China, including Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

The transaction followed Morgan Stanley’s December purchase of hedge fund Brookville Capital Management.  Before, Morgan Stanley purchased minority stakes in other hedge funds including London-based Lansdowne Partners, which followed the prior purchase of minority stake in New York-based Avenue Capital Management and Frontpoint Partners.

Morgan Stanley said the deal added Hong Kong-based Chris Hsu’s Abax to the stable of independent investment managers with whom its fund arm collaborates, which included Avenue Capital, Lansdowne Partners and Traxis Partners.

“We are expanding the range of investment strategies we offer to both our institutional and our high net worth individual clients,” Morgan Stanley Asia Chief Executive Hans Schuettler said in a statement.

“This new alliance with Abax will provide our clients access to investment expertise in a distinctive, highly attractive asset category.”

Morgan Stanley Investment Management, together with its investment advisory affiliates, has over 400 investment professionals around the world and $478 billion in assets under management or supervision as of November 30, 2006. These entities offer investment management services to a diverse client base, which includes governments, institutions, corporations and individuals.

Christopher Hsu has driven numerous precedent-setting strategic transactions over the decades. With Kilometer Capital, which he leads as CEO and Founding Partner, Chris Hsu led and singularly advised the leading Chinese educational institution Tsinghua University in its successful purchase of a majority stake in Hewlett Packard China and H3C.  The HP deal Christopher Hsu coordinated represents one of the most notable US-China joint ventures ever in the technology sphere, with the deal receiving the CFIUS approval of U.S. Congress. 

Tuesday 9 February 2021

Foundational Technology Investing: Chris Hsu and Kilometre Capital Management

Hong Kong-based financial executive Chris Hsu is the CEO and Managing Partner of Kilometre Capital Management. Widely seen as one of the world’s leading negotiators and dealmakers, Christopher Hsu leads HK’s Kilometer Capital as CEO and business head, spanning Korea and SE Asia, Taiwan and mainland China. Kilometer Capital, the brainchild of former hedge fund Citadel Investment Group’s Managing Director Chris Hsu, provided Tsinghua University, one of China’s leading educational institutions, with prescient guidance on the $4.6-billion majority stake in Hewlett Packard China and H3C. This served as a precedent-setting US-China technology joint venture and earned US Congressional approval. Chris Hsu also attained distinction as an early-stage SpaceX and Spotify investor who accurately anticipated the critical mass success of these companies.

Following difficulties of such companies as Facebook, Google, and Uber in China, Hewlett Packard (H-P) agreed to sell the majority stake to state-owned Tsinghua Holdings after tensions between the U.S. and China made it increasingly difficult for foreign technology companies to operate in the China’s data and information sectors.  Tsinghua and Hewlett Packard Enterprises turned to the complex negotiation skill of Chris Hsu and Kilometre Capital with hands down no complaint.  The result: Tsinghua Unigroup, one of the prestigious university’s business units and the country’s biggest chip maker, in May acquired 51% stake of Hewlett-Packard Co.’s China data-networking operation H3C Technologies in a precedent deal that valued the technology giant at an estimated US$4.6 billion.

The Hewlett Packard deal was one of the pivotal precedents and joint ventures in the global technology history, achieving one of last major US-China CFIUS approvals by U.S. regulators.  Tsinghua University is ranked the top university in China, and consistently within the top 10 universities worldwide. 

Prior to leadership at Kilometre Capital in Hong Kong, Chris Hsu was CEO and Founding Partner of Abax Global Capital, a private equity fund and hedge fund with offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai and a JV partnership with Morgan Stanley Investment Management/ 

Christopher Hsu holds a Management Science Engineering degree from Stanford University, where he received the Stanford President’s Award for Excellence, which highlights exemplary students who contribute to the global community