Prime Acquisition Corporation

Prime Acquisition Corporation

Apr 13, 2022 by sam.beattie

MANAGEMENT & BOARD


Executive Officers

Diana Chia-Huei Liu, 46
Chief Executive Officer and Director

Ms. Liu was also our President from inception until April 2010. Ms. Liu served as President of AutoChina International Limited from its inception to April 9, 2009 (during which time it was known as Spring Creek Acquisition Corp., a blank check company formed to acquire an operating business), and currently serves as a director. Ms. Liu has served as the President and Managing Director of Cansbridge Capital Corp., a private investment firm specializing in early stage investments along the west coast of North America (namely U.S. and Canada) and Asia, since August 1998. Prior to Cansbridge, Ms. Liu served as the Executive Vice-President at Polaris Securities Group (TW: 6011), an investment firm in Taiwan, where she founded and managed its North American operations from April 1994 to August 1998. From August 1991 to April 1994, Ms. Liu was an account portfolio manager in global private banking at the Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY), a full service banking firm. From October 1988 to August 1991, Ms. Liu served as the regional sales manager for the province of British Columbia, Canada, at CIBC Securities, a subsidiary of CIBC (NYSE:CM), a full service banking firm, where she founded and managed the mutual funds promotion division. Ms. Liu has served since June 2006 as a member of the Executive Committee and the Chair of the Investment Committee at the Asia Pacific Foundation, a Canadian federal government created think tank and policy advisory board where she works closely with the co-CEOs on operational issues and investment of its endowment funds. In addition, she also currently serves as a director of the Vancouver Goh Ballet Society and BaySpec, Inc., a supplier of optical components. Ms. Liu graduated with a BA in economics from the University of British Columbia in Canada. Ms. Liu is married to Mr. William Yu, our President, Chief Financial Officer and a director.


William Tsu-Cheng Yu, 49
President, Chief Financial Officer and Director

Mr. Yu became our President in April 2010. Since July 2000, Mr. Yu has served as the Managing Partner of Cansbridge Capital. From October 2009 until January 2010, Mr. Yu served as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Optoplex Corporation, a communication networks company. Mr. Yu served as a director of Optoplex Corporation from April 2004 until January 2010. Mr. Yu has been a general partner of the Shodan Company since February 2010. The Shodan Company is an investment holding company, formed in Feb., 2010, which is equally owned amongst William Yu and his two sons, Conrad Yu and Byron Yu (who are also sons of Diana Liu). From July 2006 through October 2008, Mr. Yu served as a special advisor to the Chief Executive Officer of Optoplex Corporation. Mr. Yu served as a director of Abebooks, Inc., the world’s largest on-line used book seller, from 2001 to 2008, prior to its acquisition by Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN). From February 2002 to August 2003, Mr. Yu served as the Chief Financial Officer to Telos Technology Corp., a supplier of wireless solutions for voice and data communication networks (acquired by UT Starcom (NASDAQ: UTSI) in 2004). Mr. Yu co-founded Intrinsyc Software Inc. (TSE: ICS), a TSE-listed embedded software company, and served in various capacities including director, Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer from July 1996 to November 2002. From August 1994 to May 1996, Mr. Yu was an associate in the Asia Pacific corporate finance group of Marleau, Lemire Securities, Inc., an investment banking firm headquartered in Montreal, Canada. From July 1991 to August 1994, Mr. Yu was an investment portfolio manager at Discovery Enterprises Inc., a provincial-government sponsored venture capital fund. Mr. Yu also previously worked with China-Canada Investment and Development and the Lawson Mardon Group. He has also served in various capacities with the Monte Jade Science and Technology Association, a non-profit organization supporting entrepreneurship and investment in technology companies in North America and Asia. Mr. Yu served as Chief Financial Officer and as a director of AutoChina International Limited from October 2007 through April 2009 (during which time it was known as Spring Creek Acquisition Corp., a blank check company formed to acquire and operating business). Mr. Yu earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering with Honors and an MBA with Honors from Queen’s University in Canada. Mr. Yu is married to Ms. Diana Liu, our Chief Executive Officer, and a director.


Hui-Kai Yan, 45
Chief Operating Officer and Director

Mr. Yan is also Secretary and a director of AutoChina International Limited, a vehicle financing company in China. Mr. Yan has been Senior Vice-President of AutoChina Group Inc. and Hebei Kaiyuan Real Estate Development Corp. since August 1997. He is responsible for Finance, Administration and Human Resources at each company. Prior to joining Hebei Kaiyuan, from April 1994 to July 1997, Mr. Yan was a member of the Economic and Trade Commission of Hebei provincial government and was responsible for guiding state-owned enterprises through restructuring process and modernization. From March 1989 to April 1994, he was at the Economic Commission of Shijiazhuang city government (Shijiazhuang is the capital of Hebei province). Mr. Yan is certified as a Senior Economist by Hebei provincial government. He graduated from Hebei University of Technology in June 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in Management Science.


Gary Han-Ming Chang, 61
Chief Operating Officer and Director

Mr. Chang has served as a Managing Director at Advanced Capital Financial Advisory Ltd., an investment advisory firm, since January 2004 advising companies in the Greater China region on public listings, M&A transactions and senior and bridge lending. Mr. Chang was an advisor to AutoChina International Limited from its inception until April 2009 (during which time it was known as Spring Creek Acquisition Corp., a blank check company formed to acquire and operating business). From August 1991 to August 2003, Mr. Chang served in various capacities at the Polaris Securities Group, an investment banking firm, including as a member of the Board of Directors at both Polaris Taiwan and Polaris Hong Kong, a managing director of the firm’s Hong Kong operations and as an Executive Vice President heading the brokerage, underwriting, proprietary trading and fixed income business units. From 1989 to 1991, prior to joining Polaris, Mr. Chang founded and served as Chairman of Gemini Securities Co., an investment banking firm which then merged with and became a subsidiary of the Polaris Securities Group in 1991. Mr. Chang graduated with a BA in International Economics from the National Chengchi University in Taiwan.


Board of Directors

Yong Hui Li, 47
Chairman and Director

Mr. Li is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AutoChina International Limited, an automobile financing company in China (NASDAQ: AUTC). Mr. Li is the founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AutoChina Group Inc. and Hebei Kaiyuan Real Estate Development Co., Ltd., which was previously the second largest shareholder of Shijiazhuang International Building, a construction company traded on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CN: 000600. From February 2001 to May 2006, Mr. Li helped oversee Hebei Kaiyuan Real Estate Development Co., Ltd.’s development of the largest steel-framed construction in Hebei Province, consisting of residential complexes, office towers and an upscale shopping mall, which covered over one million square feet. In 1994, Mr. Li founded Shijiazhuang Hi-tech Zone Kaiyuan Auto Trade Co., which was a pioneer in the commercial vehicle leasing business in Hebei Province. He graduated from Tianjin University in June 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in Optical Physics.


Jason Wang, 34
Independent Director

Mr. Wang has served as Chief Financial Officer of AutoChina International Limited, an automobile financing company in China (NASDAQ: AUTC), since July 2009. From December 2007 until July 2009, Mr. Wang served as Director of Research and Analytics at Private Equity Management Group Inc. where he was responsible for analysis of prospective investments, credit and cash flow analysis, and valuations. From July 2005 until December 2007, Mr. Wang worked at QUALCOMM Inc., a developer and innovator of advanced wireless technologies, products and services, where his responsibilities included all phases of venture capital investing, from target company identification to portfolio management. Mr. Wang received his MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management in June 2004 and Bachelors degrees from both the Wharton School and the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania in May 1998.


Dane Chauvel, 52
Independent Director

Mr. Chauvel has been the Chief Executive Officer and a director of Organic Ocean Seafood Inc., a sustainable seafood distribution company, since June 2008. From November 2005 until June 2008, Mr. Chauvel was Chief Financial Officer of CellFor Inc., an elite varietal conifer cloning company. Mr. Chauvel has been a director of Valdes Fishing Corp. since July 2007. Mr. Chauvel received his MBA from the University of Western Ontario, Richard Ivey School of Business, and his BA in Economics from the University of British Columbia.