Corporate Strategy for Emerging Markets

One of the major practice areas of the Centennial Group is the formulation and execution of corporate strategy for private companies interested in enhancing their presence in fast-growing emerging economies. The Group helps companies re-define their competitive positions in the emerging markets and then assists them in achieving these positions. It has helped companies enter the broader global markets directly or through strategic partnerships as well as resolve issues and problems encountered in countries they are already present in.

The Group has five distinct competitive advantages in this practice:

• An intimate knowledge and understanding of the economic, social, political and cultural settings of the major emerging economies in Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, as well as the interplay among these factors.
• An ability to bridge the perspectives of the country policy makers and the business community in a manner that creates win-win situations for both the host country and the international investors.
• An intimate understanding of the evolving policies and views of multilateral institutions like the IMF, World Bank and Asian Development Bank.
• Close personal contacts with top policy makers in the emerging economies, key decision makers in the multilateral financial institutions, as well as senior corporate executives of major corporations.
• Ready access to the latest social and economic data and analyses.
• An absence of any conflict of interest with any other (non-advisory) business interests.
• A commitment that a senior member of the firm would be actively be involved in and be in-charge throughout the assignment.

Examples of recent assignments carried out by the Group and/or its principals include:

• Advising the top management of a major US financial house on how to restructure its portfolio, reduce risk exposure and simultaneously enter promising new business areas in Asia in the aftermath of the Asian Financial Crisis
• Developing the corporate strategy of a major European company on how to enter a major Asian market and then helping to implement this strategy as well as undertaking a sensitive troubleshooting assignment in one of its largest existing client countries
• Advising a major Japanese institution in the formulation of a new business venture and assisting in its related interactions with a multilateral institution
• Advising a US/European joint venture on the formulation of its business strategy for investments in agro-industry in Asia, and assisting it in raising funds for investment
• Advising a European client on the structure and prospects of the insurance industry in a major Asian market in order to assist the client to determine if it wants to enter this market at this time
• Reviewing and helping one of the largest information technology firms in world to refine its business strategy and plans related to multilateral institutions such as the World Bank.