MAK Alliance aims to bridge gap between global investors, Sri Lankan opportunities 

Wednesday, 30 July 2014 00:21 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

MAK Alliance is a boutique advisory and private investment management firm based in Colombo, Sri Lanka., with offices in Singapore and Dubai. Counting over 40 years of international and local experiences between the founding partners, MAK Alliance strives to provide customised solutions in investment management and strategic advisory. MAK Alliance was founded in 2011 as an investment arm of a family business and rapidly progressed to become a full service advisory and private investment management firm. “While we have a pan Asian focus with offices and investments in Dubai, Singapore, and Thailand, our core focus is in Sri Lanka. The founding partners of MAK Alliance are overseas-based Sri Lankans who are now investing back into their motherland,” said Vickum Nawagamuwage, Co-Founder.

“As a top five growth economy of the world with consensus growth rates of over 7%, Sri Lanka offers an unique opportunity for global investment managers. However, there is an information and execution gap that prevents global investment managers investing in Sri Lanka. MAK Alliance strives to bridge that gap and link global investors with opportunities in Sri Lanka,” Nawagamuwage said. He added that MAK differentiates itself by focusing on introducing new products, services, best practice and skill sets to the Sri Lankan market. Some of these include investing in distress assets, structured debt products, transformation/turnaround advisory, and Sri Lanka’s first integrated wellness resort. MAK Alliance manages a portfolio of companies valued at over $ 60 million. In Sri Lanka, they are the second largest shareholder of ACME Printing and Packaging. Other private investments in Sri Lanka include a first-of-a-kind purpose-built wellness resort that is currently being built in Kandy and a global sourcing hub for its packaging investments. MAK decided on setting up its global sourcing platform in Sri Lanka in line with Sri Lanka’s objective of becoming a regional logistics hub. MAK holds regional dealerships in many manufacturing related raw materials. Nawagamuwage co-founded MAK Alliance and leads all investment and advisory activities. He was formerly a Senior Director of KPMG Business Advisory USA, focusing on strategy and business transformation. He was seconded to KPMG Malaysia from 2009 to 2010 where he led the Economic Transformation Program (ETP) and Government Transformation Program (GTP) and was the lead advisor to the Ministry of Finance, Malaysia. He has over 18 years of experience in strategic advisory with expertise in many sectors including financial services, public sector, tourism, and hospitality. In addition, he has led multinational teams in many parts of the world including Sri Lanka, USA, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. Nawagamuwage has received advanced management training at the Harvard Business School and is a MBA. He is also a Chartered Accountant and has a B.Sc. in Biology. Shaluka Abhayawickrama is the other co-founder of MAK Alliance and leads manufacturing sector investments and advisory. He is a successful entrepreneur and the Managing Director of Advanced Dies & Tools FZCO – Dubai, a leader in the manufacturing of moulds, dies, plastic products, printing and packaging in the Middle East. Abhayawickrama is an Electronic Engineer by profession and has working experience in many countries including Sri Lanka, Dubai, China, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. He has over 15 years of experience, having begun his career in Sri Lanka before moving to Dubai to further advance his prospects. He later founded Advanced Dies & Tools FZCO – Dubai, in 2005 with just four employees in a rented space. Abhayawickrama is credited with building ADT to a $ 40 million business with over 350 employees by end 2013. He has wide experience in all aspects of manufacturing with deep networks in the plastics, apparel, FMCG, and oil and gas industries.