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10-04-2012, 07:02 AM
The Straits Times
Apr 10, 2012
Palm oil firm CEO's degree under scrutiny
Prospectus states Bumitama Agri boss got MBA from defunct US varsity
By Yasmine Yahya
IT was just one line in a prospectus running to 448 pages long, but it has raised the eyebrows of at least one sharp-eyed investor.
The prospectus in this case was lodged last Tuesday by palm oil producer Bumitama Agri for its planned listing in Singapore.
It states on page 179 that chief executive Lim Gunawan Hariyanto, 52, obtained his Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Beverly Hills, California, in 1983.
This university was an unaccredited institution with a shady reputation, a retail investor noted in an e-mail message to The Straits Times.
There is little available information about the University of Beverly Hills, but what is clear is that the institution closed in 1986.
According to an Associated Press article from July last year, 'reports from the 1990s described the University of Beverly Hills as a non-traditional school that awarded degrees based on life experience and lacked accreditation for at least part of the time it operated, and was described as a 'diploma mill' by some critics'.
Mr Lim received his bachelor's degree from a more reputable institution - he graduated from the School of Business at the University of Southern California in 1981, with a Bachelor of Business Administration. The university has been ranked among the top 25 in the United States.
When contacted by The Straits Times, Bumitama pointed out that parent company Harita Group has achieved significant growth under Mr Lim's leadership.
He joined the family's timber business in 1984, and helped it expand into gold and coal mining. The group also started bauxite and nickel mining divisions, and entered the oil palm plantation business.
'Bumitama Agri commenced planting in 1998, and under Mr Lim's direction has grown its land bank aggressively to more than 190,000ha as of March 16, 2012,' the company said in a statement sent via e-mail.
Mr Lim took over as chief executive at the Harita Group and Bumitama in 2000. His brother Lim Gunardi Hariyanto is deputy chief executive at both companies. Their father, Mr Lim Hariyanto Wijaya Sarwono, is Harita's chairman.
Finance industry experts said investors should not be too alarmed by the questionable source of Mr Lim's MBA.
Mr Mark Liew, the director of corporate finance at PrimePartners, said what is important is not only an executive's educational background, but also his business experience and track record.
'Has this person dealt fairly with customers, suppliers and competitors?' he asked. 'When institutional investors are considering whether to invest in a company, they would look at the business as a whole and the track record of the whole management team rather than each individual's educational qualifications.'
PrimePartners provides consultancy services to companies seeking initial public offerings (IPOs).
Another finance expert who provides consulting services to IPO hopefuls noted that despite the dubious MBA, 'the CEO has apparently managed the business well, and that's why it has grown to a point where it can pursue a listing'.
But it might have been better if the company had also disclosed that the University of Beverly Hills was unaccredited and is now closed, he added.
KPMG Singapore's head of risk consulting, Mr Irving Low, said the disclosure of a chief executive's qualifications and professional experience should be made in a spirit of integrity and transparency.
'From an investor's point of view, the position of the CEO is important, as it is he or she who will ultimately manage the company and provide the returns - so in a way, investors are looking at the experience and qualification of this individual.'
yasminey@sph.com.sg
Apr 10, 2012
Palm oil firm CEO's degree under scrutiny
Prospectus states Bumitama Agri boss got MBA from defunct US varsity
By Yasmine Yahya
IT was just one line in a prospectus running to 448 pages long, but it has raised the eyebrows of at least one sharp-eyed investor.
The prospectus in this case was lodged last Tuesday by palm oil producer Bumitama Agri for its planned listing in Singapore.
It states on page 179 that chief executive Lim Gunawan Hariyanto, 52, obtained his Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Beverly Hills, California, in 1983.
This university was an unaccredited institution with a shady reputation, a retail investor noted in an e-mail message to The Straits Times.
There is little available information about the University of Beverly Hills, but what is clear is that the institution closed in 1986.
According to an Associated Press article from July last year, 'reports from the 1990s described the University of Beverly Hills as a non-traditional school that awarded degrees based on life experience and lacked accreditation for at least part of the time it operated, and was described as a 'diploma mill' by some critics'.
Mr Lim received his bachelor's degree from a more reputable institution - he graduated from the School of Business at the University of Southern California in 1981, with a Bachelor of Business Administration. The university has been ranked among the top 25 in the United States.
When contacted by The Straits Times, Bumitama pointed out that parent company Harita Group has achieved significant growth under Mr Lim's leadership.
He joined the family's timber business in 1984, and helped it expand into gold and coal mining. The group also started bauxite and nickel mining divisions, and entered the oil palm plantation business.
'Bumitama Agri commenced planting in 1998, and under Mr Lim's direction has grown its land bank aggressively to more than 190,000ha as of March 16, 2012,' the company said in a statement sent via e-mail.
Mr Lim took over as chief executive at the Harita Group and Bumitama in 2000. His brother Lim Gunardi Hariyanto is deputy chief executive at both companies. Their father, Mr Lim Hariyanto Wijaya Sarwono, is Harita's chairman.
Finance industry experts said investors should not be too alarmed by the questionable source of Mr Lim's MBA.
Mr Mark Liew, the director of corporate finance at PrimePartners, said what is important is not only an executive's educational background, but also his business experience and track record.
'Has this person dealt fairly with customers, suppliers and competitors?' he asked. 'When institutional investors are considering whether to invest in a company, they would look at the business as a whole and the track record of the whole management team rather than each individual's educational qualifications.'
PrimePartners provides consultancy services to companies seeking initial public offerings (IPOs).
Another finance expert who provides consulting services to IPO hopefuls noted that despite the dubious MBA, 'the CEO has apparently managed the business well, and that's why it has grown to a point where it can pursue a listing'.
But it might have been better if the company had also disclosed that the University of Beverly Hills was unaccredited and is now closed, he added.
KPMG Singapore's head of risk consulting, Mr Irving Low, said the disclosure of a chief executive's qualifications and professional experience should be made in a spirit of integrity and transparency.
'From an investor's point of view, the position of the CEO is important, as it is he or she who will ultimately manage the company and provide the returns - so in a way, investors are looking at the experience and qualification of this individual.'
yasminey@sph.com.sg
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