Asian family conglomerates facing succession crisis




“Dozens of large family-controlled businesses across Asia face the prospect of awkward or disruptive successions,” according to

a recent

Financial Times

analysis.

Many of these conglomerates, “especially those controlled by Chinese families,” have put off succession planning “because of deep-rooted taboos associated with patriarchy” and the difficulty of allocating assets among multiple children, the article said.

Citing statistics from Credit Suisse, the

FT

analysis noted that family-controlled businesses “account for about half of all listed companies and 32 per cent of total market captialisation across 10 Asian countries.”

Joseph Fan, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told the

FT:

“Succession can be a systemic risk to a country or region if big businesses are under transition around the same time. This is the case in Hong Kong and other emerging markets where tycoons are fading away.”

On the bright side, the

FT

report said many second- and third-generation members of Asian business families, often in their 30s and educated at Western business schools, are well qualified to join their family firms. (Source:

Financial Times,

Aug. 7, 2012.)

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