“Integration sounds sexy when you hear it from consultants,” says Zechariah Neo, a Director with Temasek’s Portfolio Development Group (PDG). “But in reality, it’s a lot of hard work.”

Zechariah speaks from first-hand experience with one of Temasek’s most transformative projects: the 2015 creation of Ascendas-Singbridge through the merger of four entities – Temasek’s Singbridge Group and Surbana International Consultants Holdings, and JTC Corporation’s Ascendas and Jurong International Holdings, resulting in an integrated urban solutions provider.

The goal was ambitious: to harness the complementary strengths of these four entities to address the growing demand for urbanisation solutions across growth markets in Asia, especially given the rising demand for projects that could creatively integrate residential, commercial and lifestyle elements.

For Temasek, it was also an opportunity to pilot a new, hands-on approach to enterprise building and portfolio management.

“The idea was simple: take people from Temasek with a strong grounding in finance and strategy, and immerse them in the operational side of building businesses through secondments with Temasek Portfolio Companies (TPCs),” says Zechariah, then an Associate Director with the Enterprise Development Group (EDG). He was among the first to be a part of this exercise. “I raised my hand because I wanted to be involved in something transformative; there was the potential for significant value to be unlocked, both for Temasek and the stakeholders of Ascendas-Singbridge.”

The next two years saw him embedded within Ascendas-Singbridge, navigating the complexities of post-merger integration, which ranged from bridging cultural divides and streamlining operations to crafting a growth strategy for the newly-formed entity. “We were in the trenches with the management team, figuring out how to make it all work,” says Zechariah.

Collaborating for results

Zechariah’s journey at Temasek began in 2011, when he joined its Life Sciences Investment Group as a fresh Finance and Economics graduate, initially focusing on the agri-food and healthcare sectors.

Despite being the most junior member of the team, he quickly found that Temasek valued ideas over hierarchy. “The structure was kept as flat as possible, with views harnessed from across the investment team. It gave me something to aspire to: learning how to foster safe spaces where diverse perspectives were voiced and debated,” he says.

It was a lesson that stayed with him when he moved to EDG in 2014 to become Staff Officer to Dilhan Pillay, the team’s first Head and current Temasek Chief Executive Officer. Under Dilhan’s mentorship, Zechariah was tasked with identifying and developing new business enterprises with the potential to become global or regional champions.

At the time, urbanisation was a key growth theme in Asia, and the Ascendas-Singbridge merger became one of EDG’s first major projects.

For Zechariah, who also became a father for the first time then, leading the Project Management Office was like having a second “baby". Under the guidance of Chairman Wong Kan Seng and CEO Miguel Ko, he tackled the challenge of managing integration logistics, aligning the teams for synergies, and fostering a culture of openness and trust between the merged entities. “They had very different roots and cultures,” he explains. “My job was to help break down barriers. We had to get everyone to think as one team and focus on being more commercially minded.”

Equally important, he found, was maintaining clear communication and boosting morale. “Beyond the tasks, it was about keeping people motivated and aligned with the vision. If something wasn’t working, you adapted. If there was conflict, you resolved it.”

By the end of his two-year secondment in June 2017, Zechariah had witnessed both a breaking down of silos and a significant mindset shift. Returning to Temasek, he brought with him a deeper understanding of how Temasek could partner with the boards and management of portfolio companies to bring value to businesses. “When you’re in the thick of dealing with what mergers entail, and what it means to make it work on the ground, you see how much effort it takes to pull everyone together, work in lockstep, and create something that lasts.”

In 2019,  Ascendas-Singbridge would be acquired by CapitaLand, creating one of Asia’s largest diversified real estate groups with over S$123 billion of assets under management – representing a massive value uplift for Temasek.

From investment to impact

The success of the Ascendas-Singbridge merger validated Temasek’s approach to enterprise building and shaped how the organisation approached portfolio management in the years that followed.

“After the merger, we realised our strength in transforming and enhancing the value of our TPCs, especially when we took an active partnership stance,” Zechariah says. This insight laid the groundwork for the Portfolio Development Group (PDG), conceptualised in 2019 to help portfolio companies thrive through partnerships, innovation, growth strategies, and restructuring.

Zechariah was part of the team tasked with creating the PDG, bringing the insights he had learnt from the Ascendas-Singbridge merger to the table. “We worked on the concept, wrote the proposal, got it approved, and then built the structure for the PDG,” he recalls.

For Zechariah, the experience of working on the merger wasn’t just about professional growth – it was a chance to witness the broader impact of Temasek’s work.

“Our Singapore portfolio companies are special. They are our heritage, and as stewards, it’s our responsibility and privilege to support them in their transformation journeys. Through this, we safeguard jobs and livelihoods, while supporting the resilience of Singapore’s economic ecosystem.”

 “That’s the impact I strive to make every day,” he says. “It’s what keeps me going.”