Suresh Withana
Chief Investment Officer & Founder

Suresh Withana commenced his career with Price Waterhouse Corporate Finance in Sydney, Australia. In 1996 he moved to Kuala Lumpur with a boutique investment bank, AusAsean, focusing on small and mid-cap corporate finance advisory engagements across Asia including India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Mauritius. In 1998, he joined Bank of America, working in Sydney and London in its Project Finance and Private Equity Groups.

In 2000, he joined Merrill Lynch as an investment banker in London, where he worked on a number of LBOs, recaps and restructuring advisory mandates. He left Merrill Lynch in September 2002, and co-founded a leading proprietary direct investment business for Mizuho International Plc – the Global Special Situations Group.

At Harmony Capital, Mr Withana is responsible for overall portfolio construction, portfolio management and management of the Harmony Group’s operations as well as representing Harmony on the boards of various portfolio companies. He also specializes in investment structuring, leveraging off his extensive experience in special situations investing and advisory work.

Suresh holds a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney.

John Nicholls
Executive Director and Partner (Sydney)

John Nicholls commenced his career with ICI in Australia, where he was responsible for a variety of turnaround assignments through their subsidiary Dulux Paints. In 1964 he joined Comalco Limited. In 1967, John was transferred to Asia, where he worked continuously until he returned to Australia during late 1997. He has senior operational experience across various Asian countries including Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, USA, Nigeria and Australia. His direct industry experience over the years encompasses manufacturing (electronics, telecommunications, consumer appliances, electric motors, building products, steel rolling, aluminium/brass extrusion, and pharmaceuticals), trading (salt, bauxite, non-ferrous metals), distribution (consumer appliances, metals), waste management and property development.

More recently, he has conducted a number of strategic consulting assignments for various public companies in Australia. He has had extensive experience from 1967 as a director of listed and unlisted companies. Together with Suresh, John is responsible for investment decisions and is particularly involved in operational and business due diligence/evaluation of investment opportunities.

John received his Bachelor of Commerce and MBA from the University of New South Wales.