Tianhe Chemicals is blazing a trail for Chinese industry by showing the benefits of long-term investment in research and development.
The privately owned speciality chemicals and oil additives group is closing in on an initial public offering in Hong Kong to raise about $1bn, but it has taken more than a decade of development to get to this point.
“To move up the value chain, more Chinese companies need to take longer-term decisions and to invest in R&D,” says Homer Sun, chief investment officer at Morgan Stanley’s Asia private equity arm, which invested $300m in Tianhe in 2012. “While this is not yet a typical approach or thought process for many China entrepreneurs, it will change as Chinese industry develops.”