Hong Kong’s premier sporting event, the Rugby Sevens, solved its sponsorship quandary last month. Credit Suisse First Boston has taken over the role from the now bankrupt Peregrine.
It is a relief for rugby fans in Hong Kong who feared the worst when Peregrine went bust in January. It is also a sign of CSFB’s renewed commitment to the territory, where it now has 360 staff and has recently bought a sizeable chunk of BZW Asia.
The Sevens in typical Hong Kong style – changed hands by way of a phone call late on the afternoon of January 9. Alan Smith, the former boss of Jardine Fleming and since last year the vice-chairman of CSFB Asia, rang Peregrine chief Philip Tose to ask how things were going. An old friend and long-time sparring partner, Tose told Smith that things were bad and that Peregrine’s Swiss saviour, Zurich Centre Investments, had decided not to inject fresh equity capital.
This signalled the end for Peregrine, and Smith offered his commiserations. After putting down the phone, Smith thought about the difficulty this would pose for the Sevens. The event is a Hong Kong institution, and Smith knew that the last thing Tose would want was for the event to be put in jeopardy.
He called Tose again and suggested that CSFB take over sponsorship of the event. Tose agreed and asked Smith to seek the permission of the organizers, who quickly accepted.
The next day Smith approached Hong Kong financial secretary Donald Tsang, and said CSFB was looking to take over one of Peregrine’s liabilities. But it needed help. This was obviously not the first such request Tsang had received, and he looked suitably unimpressed.
His mood changed when Smith told him about the Sevens. Could he help by stepping in as the keynote speaker for an investor conference CSFB was organizing to coincide with the event at the end of March? Tsang gladly said yes. In fact, corporate Hong Kong quickly confirmed it would attend as well. As will US economist Steven Hanke, the famed proponent of an Indonesian currency board.
The only dilemma CSFB now has is selecting the music for the all-important promotional video that gets played in the stadium. There is usually fantastic competition among major and minor sponsors to make these as lively as possible. CSFB is negotiating on the rights for Chumbawumba’s anthem Tubthumping (“You knock me down, but I get up again, you’re never gonna knock me down”), and Village People’s YMCA. The lyrics to this classic might be changed to: “Young man, if you like your rugby/I said young man, then come to CSFB.” Steven Irvine
