Jebsen betting big on health awareness Over five days last November, Beijing's air pollution index soared off the charts, double the level that was considered "hazardous". Less than a decade after presenting blue skies for the world to see during the 2008 Olympics, the Chinese capital now regularly tops the list of global cities with chronic air pollution. That's not entirely bad news for Helmuth Hennig, managing director of Hong Kong trading house Jebsen & Company. Sales of Dyson air purifiers, fans and vacuum cleaners, distributed in China by Jebsen, more than tripled in 2015 as Chinese families splash out on sophisticated appliances to filter out particulate air matter from their homes and offices. The sales boom marks another piece in the eclectic mix of businesses for Jebsen, which traces its history to 1895 in Hong Kong as a shipping agency. Besides Dyson's futuristic appliances, Jebsen brought the Porsche marque to China, and distributes Casio cameras and Nomos time pieces.

The next business opportunity lies in the health of China's population, Hennig said in an interview with the South China Morning Post. "They are shifting toward a healthy lifestyle, so it is a little bit different from what it was 10 to 15 years ago," Hennig said. "Now it's about how people live a long and healthy life, and how people make sure they can enjoy that life.” That's prompted the 58-year-old Hong Kong-born Danish businessman to pin Jebsen's business strategy on products and services that offer healthier alternatives," a direction born after spending decades exploring China's consumer market. More than 75 per cent of China's urban consumers will earn between 60,000 yuan (HK$70,008) and 229,000 yuan a year by 2022, according to McKinsey estimates. This swelling middle class is increasingly eager to pay a premium for clean air. The market for air purifiers can have a compound annual growth rate of 18 per cent in the next five years, according to an estimate by TechSci Research.

Dyson's Pure Cool Link purifier starts from 3,190 yuan on the mainland, while the Swiss-made IQAir HealthPro purifier sells for more than 10,000 yuan each.wii lens cleaning kit not working "The consumers are basically being driven to look into these premium home appliance products," Hennig said.hunter air purifier company Another emerging trend and business opportunity is Chinese drinkers switching from their traditional distilled rice liquor to mid-range wine, which he describes as something "people can afford, and can enjoy over time.” paint sprayer clean upRice liquor, also grouped in a category known as "baijiu", is de rigueur in China's business banquets and many social gatherings. In recent years, incidences of baijiu found with excessive amounts of phthalates – used in softening plastics – has raised health concerns, pushing younger consumers to seek alternatives.

Wine is "a healthier option," Hennig said. "There's a trend where people are enjoying themselves but also looking after their health." Still, China's economy is expanding at its slowest pace in decades, weighing down Jebsen's growth momentum, Hennig said. Imports by China slumped by a bigger-than-expected 12.5 per cent in July. Economists expect domestic demand to remain sluggish due to shrinking manufacturing, a weaker yuan and lower private investments. From double digits, the conglomerate's expansion has slowed to single-digit percentages, he said. "Looking forward, we expect trade data to remain lacklustre in the coming months, given our outlook of subdued momentum in global trade and China's domestic demand," Louis Kuijs of Oxford Economics wrote in a note. While the Chinese economic expansion slows, that's creating more opportunities for companies such as Alibaba Group Holdings and Tencent Holdings, which are using e-commerce and social networking to break down business barriers.

Alibaba, which owns the South China Morning Post, on Thursday reported its fastest quarterly sales growth since its IPO, as more Chinese took to shopping online. "Alibaba, Tencent, and their spin-offs, are really setting the tune of the development, making it very difficult for others to follow,"Hennig said. “For very big foreign companies like Amazon, it is extremely difficult to move at the same pace as the Chinese ones.” That's providing a challenge for a century-old brick-and-mortar firm like Jebsen to adopt to e-commerce to reach out to customers. With all kinds of information available at the swipe of a thumb, prices are becoming transparent, and consumers are more adept at price arbitrages, Hennig said. That means global distributors might have to consider equalising prices between different markets, and gradually phasing out charging an import premium on products in China, he said. "There is pressure on pricing, particularly on big ticket items, and consumers will be more cautious,"he said.

"Consumers in China are sensitive... so brand owners are forced to look at global pricing nowadays." ——Article excerpt from《South China Morning Post》Private-equity firm MBK Partners LP has kicked off a sale of its controlling stake in South Korean air purifier maker Coway Co.% , in the latest multibillion-dollar sale out of South Korea. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which is advising MBK Partners on the sale, sent out initial financial information, known as a “teaser,” to prospective buyers on the South Korean company that sells water and air-purifiers, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. Potential bidders for MBK’s 31% stake, worth more than $2 billion, could include both private-equity firms and industry buyers. The sale comes as private-equity investors look at another big South Korean asset that is on the block: U.K. retailer Tesco% PLC could raise up to $7 billion from its disposal of its South Korean operations. Second-round bids are due later this month.

Coway, which has a market cap of more than $6 billion, sells purifiers with service packages that include regular cleaning and filter replacement. Those regular visits give Coway’s 18,500-strong sales force an opportunity to pitch other products like electronic bidets and mattresses to customers. MBK bought its Coway stake in January 2013 for $1.1 billion from Woongjin Holdings Co. after that conglomerate’s real-estate-related business got in trouble. Since then, MBK increased the company’s cash flow margins to 28.7% last year from 23.7% in 2012. Coway has in recent years pushed into China, the U.S., and Malaysia. MBK Partners is a pan-Asia private-equity fund managing more than $8.1 billion. It was founded in 2005 by a group of partners that worked together at Carlyle Group% LP on Asian investments. Private-equity firms are expecting 2015 to be a major year for exits across the region as they want to return capital to investors. Last month, MBK signed a deal to sell Taiwan’s largest cable-television operator for $2.3 billion and sold Chinese waste-to-energy company GSEI Investment Corp. to Beijing Enterprises Holdings Ltd.%