Daily Briefing: World's oldest billionaire lives in Singapore; GIC and Temasek in talks for $1.5b 'Salt Bae' resto deal

And here's why Singapore's debt consolidation plan might not be working.

From Forbes:

Shipping tycoon Chung Chang Yun is the world's oldest billionaire at 99 years old, according to Forbes. He has a net worth of US$1.9b. Chung was followed by Brazil's Aloysio de Andrade Faria, who is 97 years old.

"He cofounded Pacific International Lines in 1967 as a coastal operator with two secondhand ships. He is chairman of the company. His son Teo Siong Sen runs it."

Read more here.

From ValuePenguin via Yahoo! Finance:

In 2017, the Monetary Authority of Singapore introduced a new financial instrument called debt consolidation plan (DCP) to help consumers rein in their bloating debt problem. It also had limits that made it not available to everyone. ValuePenguin assessed whether DCP has been effective in helping consumers deal with their debt problem by looking at the Department of Statistics Singapore's most recent release of household balance sheet.

"At first look, it may seem that DCPs might be helping consumers with their credit card debt. For example, data from Monetary Authority of Singapore shows that "rolled over" balance of credit cards (i.e. unpaid balance that has become debt) has actually declined in 2017. This could imply that some consumers have been able to pay down their unpaid credit card balance by utilising DCP.

However, there are also other plausible explanations for this decline in credit card debt. For instance, people could be leveraging other tools like balance transfers, which are much more accessible for smaller amount of debt, to pay down their card balance."

Read more here.

From Deal Street Asia:

The Financial Times reported that high-end restaurant chain Nusr-Et Steakhouse, popularised by the viral "Salt Bae" video, could come under new ownership soon as a consortium of investors, including Singapore’s Temasek and GIC, are reportedly closing in on a US$1.5b deal.

"The steakhouse chain became famous when its founder, Nusret Gokce, also known as “Salt Bae“, became a social media phenomenon after videos of him preparing steaks became viral.

Netizens went crazy for the flair and flourish with which Salt Bae cuts and salts his steak. The report said Temasek, GIC and London-based Metric Capital are in talks to acquire D.ream Group, a subsidiary of Dogus Group, which owns the restaurant chain. The deal, according to sources quoted by the Financial Times, would include about US$200m of equity."

Read more here.