By SHIBANI MAHTANI
As alternative energy sources such as wind and solar power gain traction and investment, and volatility roils the global oil market, it might not be the sexiest time to be exploring for oil and gas.
Lionel Lee, managing director of Ezra Holdings Ltd., is confident in Ezra’s sustained growth. With its acquisition last year of Norwegian subsea specialist Aker Marine Contractors, a four-decade-old company, Ezra propelled itself into the ranks of major global players. The company, also known by its operating brand EMAS, now manages subsea-exploration projects for some of the world’s biggest oil companies, including BP
Exploration & Production. In the nine months following that acquisition, Mr. Lee said, Ezra acquired contracts of $850 million.
To be sure, the initial months following the $250 million acquisition were rough. Ezra’s earnings sank and its share price dropped, as it promised investors and shareholders that the long-term strategy—focused on expanding fleets of ships and their expertise to all corners where deep oil and gas reserves are found—will pay off. Mr. Lee told his investors that the company is built for the next 50 years, and encouraged them to be patient. The strategy seems to be paying off. The company’s shares, at 95 Singapore cents (76 U.S. cents) as recently as November, closed Friday at S$1.255. Earlier this month, CIMB Research upgraded the firm to outperform from underperform and raised its target price to S$1.40.
Mr. Lee spoke with Shibani Mahtani about changes within the industry and hiring the right people. The following interview has been edited.
WSJ: How did you expand from your headquarters in Singapore and establish regional bases in Texas and Norway?
Mr. Lee: Getting to know and understanding people based in Europe and the U.S. is key. I’ve literally grown up with the management team here in Singapore, and what I try to do in our regional centers is to understand my management team there. After a couple of years [in Houston], I understand how the management is run there and there’s been extremely good rapport.
When we wanted to grow globally, we did not have the choice of luxury or time. We acquired AMC, which was a 40-year-old company. If we were going to take the same amount of time to grow, we were not going to get the resources we needed to build up the company. We took the acquisition route, and it has paid off—it put us a step ahead of our competition in the region.
WSJ: What was the importance of expanding overseas so quickly?
Mr. Lee: Though we are based in Singapore, we have no clients at all here. Singapore has an excellent infrastructure, but only after being in the U.S. and Europe do you become a truly global oil and gas player. A lot of know-how is held there, so your engineering centers can be kept there. In Houston, you also have all your major oil companies in a 50-mile radius.
WSJ: How satisfied are you with Ezra’s performance since the 2011 acquisition?
Mr. Lee: Typically when you grow a business, you will have growing pains. Overall, I think we’ve done the best that we could’ve right now—our first-quarter profits have remained flat but our revenue has jumped 138% from a year earlier. Our profile is completely different from that of the previous year, our model is changing rapidly. Our revenue in particular is diversifying from the traditional Asian-Pacific region, where we were once primarily based.
WSJ: Is it difficult working for the company with your father as chairman?
Mr. Lee: The first one to tell me this was a mistake was my mother—she said working with my father was the worst thing I could ever do. Seventeen years ago, when I wanted to join the oil and gas industry, everyone thought I was crazy because it was thought to be a sunset industry.
Résumé
Education: LASALLE College of the Arts (Singapore), 1994; Diploma in Merchandising, Graduate Diploma 1997 in Business Administration, Western Sydney International College.
Career: After a childhood spent on ships owned by his father’s company, Ezra Holdings, his first job was running its marine-trading division. He then moved on to other divisions, including running the largest: marine chartering and construction.
Hobbies: Tennis, cycling and spending time at the shipyard.
It had a lot of challenges at first, because when I went home, I still had to face him. Even if I did not agree with his view, I still had to go home and respect him as my father. But when I was doing a job, I really wanted to execute it the way I myself wanted to. In the initial years, it was hard for us as a family. Still, I grew up with many of the crew members on the ships, and have known them for decades. This relationship has carried on, and has made the transition between the leadership of myself and my father easier.
WSJ: What do you look for in potential hires?
Mr. Lee: I look for people who share my passion for the industry. I still dream of ships, I still want to sleep and eat with the boats. I spend a lot of time at the shipyard, and miss the smell when I am away. It is important for new hires to share that—I like to see the sparkle in their eyes.
They don’t need to understand the business initially, but they need to want to learn and improve themselves. I look for the enthusiasm in them, and see if they can think of different ways to execute a project.
WSJ: What is the biggest challenge for the industry?
Mr. Lee: It is not increased regulation or risk, but rather getting the right people and fitting a square into a square. I like to work with my colleagues for decades and decades to come, but younger people move around a lot more. Trying to find the right successors is also extremely challenging, so we name them early and make sure there is enough time to train them.
We also recruit globally, from the U.S., Norway, Holland and of course here in Singapore, where we try to groom local graduates from the engineering schools.
WSJ: What drives young graduates to a company like Ezra?
Mr. Lee: When we [in this industry] were laying pipes in thousands of meters of water, people had not even been to the moon yet. Our operations are not just about ships, and are very complex—which is interesting.
Being a global organization, we are able to give all our people a global feel, and show them what different fields are like. You can be working in Brazil today, and the U.S. tomorrow, be exposed to Europe but trained in Asia-Pacific.
A lot of Europeans are also attracted to work in Singapore, because it is a great place to live. It is not difficult to attract people to this region. We may not be as exciting as a marketing company, but we have huge exposure in so many different countries.
I think we have gone past the stage where the oil and gas industry is a sunset industry; a lot of young engineers are attracted to this business because it is a need business, rather than a want.
I don’t need a new smartphone, but I need energy every day.




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