It has performed a Marvel-lous feat by bagging the Best Listed Company at the Singapore Business Review Listed Companies Awards, held at the Conrad Centennial Singapore on 17 May 2018, after winning two awards back to back last year (2017) – one on its new intellectual property (IP) experiences and the other to acknowledge its traditional business.
Cityneon has started its journey as a supplier of electrical appliances in 1956 before it morphed to include the design and installation of shop displays and retail fronts. Since then, it has transformed into a creator of innovative and interactive exhibitions.
The Group’s colossal growth is largely due to the contribution of the newly acquired intellectual property rights (IPR) segment which the Group attained full global rights to Jurassic World- the Exhibition in August 2017. The three IPRs (Disney Marvel’s Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N., Hasbro’s Transformers and Universal Studios’ Jurassic World- The Exhibition) have expanded to 14 cities globally, extended from one to six sets. The touring sets have premiered in cities starting from New York, Seoul, Paris, Las Vegas, Singapore, Beijing, Taipei, Chong Qing, Moscow, Melbourne, Philadelphia and Chicago.
Most notably, several movies from the franchises on which Cityneon has based its exhibits are set to be released in 2018. There are three Marvel movies planned, including the intensely marketed ensemble flick Avengers: Infinity War in May 2018. And from the Transformers, Bumblebee: The Movie is expected to launch in 2018. The sequel to 2015’s Jurassic World, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, has been tapped for a June release.
This month (May 2018), Cityneon secured an exclusive worldwide licence to the rights for the exhibition “The Hunger Games: The Exhibition”. The exhibition based on the Hunger Games movie series has toured places such as New York, Sydney, San Francisco and Louisville.
With this latest agreement, Cityneon will hold four major international IP property rights licences, including for Disney Marvel’s Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N., Hasbro’s Transformers – Autobots Alliance, and Universal Studios’ Jurassic World-The Exhibition.
Under the leadership of Executive Chairman & Group CEO Ron Tan, the Group was awarded both the SBR International Business Award and SBR National Business Award in 2017. Mr Tan has won Outstanding Leaders in Asia — Asia Corporate Excellence at the Asia Corporate Excellence & Sustainability Awards (ACES) in 2017.
“Running a business like Cityneon can be like participating in ‘The Hunger Games’. You are competing against a lot of other ‘hungry’ businesses, each with a quiver filled with colour-coded arrows and everyone is targeting the same game. You need a Katniss-like advantage,” Ron Tan said.
“The award represents the hard work of each and every of the 400 employees in the Group globally. This year’s award for Best Listed Company in our category/ industry is yet another recognition of the continued hard work put in by all in the Group, the confidence and trusts our industry partners, clients, and suppliers have in us. We are blessed and honoured to receive this award and will continue to strive to be Best-in-Class in the years ahead,” he added.
Held on 17 May 2018 at the Conrad Centennial Singapore, the Singapore Business Review Listed Companies Awards is on its fourth year to honour and recognise outstanding publicly listed companies in Singapore. Previous winners include SMRT, Singtel, Singapore Press Holdings, OUE, Frasers Commercial Trust and Del Monte Pacific Limited.
This year’s nominations were judged by a panel consisting of Ms Ng Jiak See, Executive Director and Head of corporate finance advisory at Deloitte Singapore & Southeast Asia; Mr Choo Eng Chuan, ASEAN markets leader and partner, international and corporate tax services at Ernst & Young Solutions LLP; Mr Toh Kim Teck, Assurance Partner, Foo Kon Tan LLP; Mr Henry Tan, Managing Director at NEXIA TS.