Global Invacom Launches into New Growth Orbit

Before he accepted the job, the Bachelor of Science with Honours graduate from UK’s Coventry University was forced to do some serious soul-searching. 

“It was all in a handshake – there was never any offer in writing from Roger, and I kept asking myself, ‘Should I trust this guy?’,” Taylor recalled.

There was also a stark contrast between his previous job and the prospective one. “I was running a big facility, with lots of machines and people, and when my son saw the manor house that the business was based in, he went ‘Dad, don’t do it!’,” he grinned.

“But of course, I did.”

And it proved to be a tempestuous journey.

The Group then had a sister company – Invacom Ltd – which was loss-making. “We had two sales teams, two business development teams, two finance teams, and they were all calling the same customers. It was obvious we needed to get the two entities together, but it wasn’t easy – there were many egos at stake,” he said.

Global Invacom Ltd was finally established in April 2008. After buying Roger and Helen out and restructuring the merged company, Taylor ran into another snag.

“That was quite a big setback for us – that supplier had all our tooling and test equipment on site, as well as seven to eight products that had been qualified by several key customers, so it would have been extremely challenging and time-consuming to move production and re-qualify all those products,” Taylor said.

Management decided to hold off the sale, and tracked down the liquidators to see if they could buy over the business. They paid five million pounds for a 52.4% stake in Radiance Group, which triggered a mandatory cash offer that required a sum of another five million pounds.

“That was when we hit a brick wall. We couldn’t find a bank willing to loan us five million pounds in 2010 to do the general offer, even though there was more than enough cash in Radiance – about 12 million pounds – that could have been used to offset the loan,” he said.

Pushed to the point of frustration, Taylor approached the Pannells and the board for funding. “All of us threw in every penny we had, and pooled enough money to do the GO to take control of the company,” he said.

“That year, I couldn’t afford school fees for the kids. I told them, no riding lessons, no holidays. That was how bad it was.”

In October 2010, Taylor was appointed Executive Chairman of Global Invacom. He had another game plan up his sleeve – to engineer the reverse takeover (RTO) of Global Invacom by SGX-listed Radiance Group Ltd. 

Radiance, which provided electronics manufacturing services for the satellite communications industry, was listed on Singapore Exchange’s smaller board – known then as Sesdaq – in June 2003.

“It made a lot of sense to vertically integrate the two companies. Global Invacom represented 90% of Radiance Shanghai’s business – we drove the profits in the company then,” Taylor noted.

“It was a long and painful procedure that took 17 months, bogged down by many legal and technical issues. While we learnt an amazing amount in that time, many of us were wondering, ‘Why bother with this? Why not do something else instead?’,” he said. 

Taylor’s stubborn streak, however, refused to let him abandon the project. “It’s easy, when something isn’t going as well as you would hope, to step away. But if it’s important, you need to keep at it, and get through to the end.”

The successful RTO resulted in the Group’s backdoor listing on SGX in June 2012. Two years later, Global Invacom shares were admitted to trading on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange.

Global Invacom has a market capitalisation on SGX of about S$44 million. Between 2012 and 2015, its revenues grew from US$74.7 million to US$129.1 million. While the Group was loss-making in 2012 and 2015, it reported net income of US$7.8 million in 2013 and US$4.3 million in 2014. 

Since then, its fortunes have turned. The Group swung to a net profit of US$0.7 million for the three months ended 30 September 2016 from a net loss of US$2.7 million in the year-ago period, marking its second straight quarter in the black.

In the year-to-date, Global Invacom shares have generated a total return of 9.6%, compared with 4.2% for the FTSE ST All-Share Index and 2.1% for the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI).

On hindsight, spearheading the merger of the Global Invacom Group, as well as facilitating the company’s subsequent listings in Singapore and London, were key milestones in his career, Taylor said.

Like a stomach-churning rollercoaster ride, those experiences swung him from wild elation to deep despair. Despite this, there are no regrets. 

“We’re ranked third in the industry in terms of revenue, but number two or number one in profits. Our goal has always been to bring together different elements of the industry and become the largest player.”

Its 2015 purchase of US satellite terminals manufacturer Skyware Global for US$8.8 million was a case in point. The acquisition of Skyware, which designs and manufactures antennas for the Direct-to-Home and Very Small Aperture Terminals markets, boosts Global Invacom’s portfolio of products, widens its customer base and adds a North American presence to its manufacturing footprint that spans Asia and Europe. 

The Group continues to evaluate consolidation opportunities as they occur, Taylor said. 

“Many of these players, some bigger than Global Invacom, are family-run businesses, comprising elderly stakeholders with kids who may not want to be involved, and thus have no proper exit strategy. It’s in the best interests of these stakeholders to sell, but many are not ready to let go,” he said.

“At any given time, we have two to three potential acquisitions in the pipeline that could close at the drop of a hat, if circumstances are right. It’s all about timing.”

In terms of outlook, the SatComms industry doesn’t lack growth drivers, Taylor noted. 

According to the Tauri Group, the average number of satellites launched per year between 2011 and 2015 has surged 36%, while the global satellite manufacturing and launch market is projected to expand at a compounded annual rate of 5.1% between 2014 and 2019. In particular, satellite TV demand is booming, and accounted for nearly 80% of satellite consumer revenues in 2015.

The low-cost, ubiquitous coverage offered by satellites, particularly in remote regions where traditional terrestrial copper or fibre networks fall short of reliability and speed, has spurred developing Asian nations like Indonesia and Myanmar to switch to this technology, he pointed out.

Bank Rakyat Indonesia launched its own satellite from French Guiana in September to cut third-party transponder fees required to operate its ATM network, while the country’s retailers are adopting SatComms technology to facilitate basic services like credit card transactions, as shopping malls sprout up in remote areas.

Staying abreast of advancements in the industry is another must, and Global Invacom’s ability to develop new technologies in partnership with its suppliers is a key advantage.

The Group has 59 granted patents, a further 65 patent applications, and a 30-year track record of pioneering new products.

“Being innovators in the industry, we usually get invited by major broadcasters to jointly come up with designs, and that’s a privilege,” Taylor said.

“So we keep an eye on what’s on the horizon, share our vision of where the technology is going, and decide if that fits our sweet spot. Options range from doing it ourselves, buying a development team, or using an existing team.”

To decompress from work, the fan of US singer-songwriter James Taylor and Irish rock band The Script throws himself into his guitar. He has a collection of at least a dozen acoustic folk guitars, with one strategically placed in every office location. 

“My wife would go nuts if she knew how many guitars I have,” he chortled.

“I usually strum a few songs before dinner or when I’m in my hotel room. It’s really therapeutic – helps me get my mind off work and focus on something totally different.” 

Apart from music, Taylor, 54, is passionate about bringing out the best in his staff and colleagues. 

“It’s great to be able to impart to people things that you’ve learnt the hard way. If you’re able to teach them early in their career, it can help them progress further and faster,” noted the father of a son, 22, and a daughter, 20.

His favourite books are “The Goal” by Israeli business management guru Eliyahu Goldratt, and “How to Become a CEO” by marketing consultant Jeffrey J Fox. He usually keeps spare copies of these titles to pass on to friends and colleagues.

“I really loved ‘How to Become a CEO’. I first spotted that book in an airport bookstore after my flight was delayed, and my first reaction was, ‘C’mon, be serious!’,” Taylor grinned.

“But after I read it, it really changed my life – it got me to quit my job then and move on to something else.”

Also at the top of Taylor’s list are principles of honesty, openness and integrity. 

The company website is: www.globalinvacom.com.

Click here for the company’s StockFacts page.

kopi-C is a regular column on SGX’s My Gateway website that features C-level executives of leading companies listed on the Singapore Exchange. These interviews are profiles of senior management aimed at helping investors better understand the individuals who run these corporations.