BEIJING, June 18 -- After enjoying roaring success in London, Hong Kong and Cannes, an exclusive new club is about to open its doors in Shanghai. It will be like nothing the city has ever seen, says its creator.
Alistair Paton was a 25-year-old kid sitting in the sun in the Caribbean, drinking beer and watching cricket when he decided to change the world.
He was not thinking of world peace or settling eons-old religious struggles as he wandered to the bar for a refill while a cacophony of steel drums - so omnipresent at West Indies cricket matches - rattled madly in the background.
Instead, the young Australian from Melbourne had only one thought on his mind and he could not shake it following a recent visit to London.
Paton wanted to open a club. But he wasn't thinking of just any club. In his mind was an establishment reminiscent of the grand old days when private members' clubs in London and New York were the bastions of class, style and civility, not to mention outrageous amounts of money.
Of course, New York has Soho House, the Algonquin Club and others, while London has its own Soho House, the Kingly Club, Eight Club and the Groucho Club, to name just a few.
But Paton wanted a new, modern place, a place where "high net worth individuals" could wheel and deal over the finest food and wine. It frustrated him that there were no private members clubs with the polish and structure of an operation befitting the 21st century.
And Paton wanted to take his idea globally - England, France, and China at least. So he decided to do something about it.
Despite his youth, Paton had the ability to make it happen. His CV is impressive. Twice nominated for Australian Young Entrepreneur of the Year, he moved from being a foreign exchange trader in Sydney to establishing a carbon credit trading business in 1999.
By all reports, he had also just made US$10 million on a buyout of his company.
So when he returned to London from that Caribbean sojourn, Paton was a young man with brains, money and a plan.
Now, five years later, the ambitious yet down-to-earth Paton has established M1NT Global Holdings. He rubs shoulders with some of the biggest names in politics, royalty, business, entertainment and sport - Sheik Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, Prince William, actors Jet Li, Val Kilmer and Kurt Russell, US socialite Ivana Trump and media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
On returning to London, a lot of hard work enabled him to launched M1NT - exactly the super high-class private members club/cocktail bar he had envisaged.
M1NT was initially based in trendy Knightsbridge before moving to upmarket Mayfair. Then, in 2006, Paton opened M1NT Hong Kong in a premier location spanning 557 square meters, catering for 350 guests and boasting a membership that reads like a "Who's Who" of Hong Kong. It has smashed all revenue predictions, even outperforming the Hang Seng last year.
M1NT Cannes opened on the French Riviera last year for the annual Cannes Film Festival where 1,500 Hollywood A-list guests were entertained in the two acres (0.8 hectare) of sculptured gardens that form part of the US$39-million property leased by M1NT.
But in September, the biggest and most ambitious of all the M1NT projects will open its doors in Shanghai. Paton says detailed research has identified that the city is crying out for an establishment like M1NT and he guarantees it will be the most spectacular and innovative.
"No expense has been spared," says the 30-year-old. "When it is finished, it will be the most expensive reconstruction in Shanghai's history. Overall cost of the project is US$8 million."
Residing on the 24th floor of M1NT Tower on Fuzhou Road just back from the Bund, M1NT Shanghai will occupy a massive 1,858 square meters of floor space and offer spectacular views of the Bund, Pudong, the city center, People's Square and beyond.
But it's what is on the inside that has Paton and his team buzzing like schoolkids. Right now, the M1NT Shanghai floor space is like a blank canvas. But Paton and his team of young guns like to talk about the transformation in terms of "industrial minimalistic" entrance areas, dark hardwood floors, flowing curtains and trellises, near 7-meter ceilings and the glass-walled theater kitchen which will allow diners to see world-renowned head chef Ian Pengelly (who arrived this week) weave his magic nightly.
Then there is the Gothic candelabra 10 meters in diameter from Barcelona and ... wait for it ... a 17-meter shark tank which will be home to 22 hammerhead sharks.
Members will also be able to avail themselves of a multitude of M1NT "toys," such as limousines, jets and boats. And then there is the entertainment.
"Our chairman, Paul Robinson, is a former financial director of Richard Branson's Virgin Records and was head of the EMI Asia for the past five years," says Paton.
What that means is that Robinson's relationship with the likes of international music superstars such as Robbie Williams and Christina Aguilera is very, very good. So who knows who might turn up to perform at the "soft'' opening on September 16 or at the grand opening in October.
Shares went on sale two weeks ago and are expected to be all sold by next month.
Under M1NT's unique structure, there will be just 500 shareholders, many of whom will come from Shanghai's powerbrokers and social elite. The 500 elite shareholders will receive a percentage of the company's profits whilst having exclusive use of the clubs' facilities without paying annual fees. M1NT will also accommodate another 2,000 ordinary members who will pay annual fees to use the club's facilities but not be eligible to take profits from the business.
While 46 percent of China's 160 billionaires reside in Shanghai, it is an inescapable fact that still many of the city's 17 million population live on the breadline.
"M1NT may be a playground for Shanghai's rich and famous, but we have not forgotten our moral obligation to society," says Paton. "We have formed a partnership with Jet Li and his One Foundation which focuses on helping those people who are less fortunate.
"But as well as regular charity events, our plan is to contribute 25 percent of M1NT Shanghai's total service charge proceeds to the One Foundation which we estimate will amount to about 1.4 million yuan (US$202,898) in the first year of the partnership alone," he reveals.
Sitting in his office on the third floor of M1NT Tower, Paton's eyes gleam at the thought of what lies ahead. The question, of course, is why Shanghai? It has been reported that Macau, Moscow, Beijing and New York have been, or are being, considered. But Paton says Shanghai was impossible to ignore.
"We have a focus on Asia. Hong Kong has proven a raging success and down there our members kept saying to us we had to look at Shanghai," says Paton. "There is no doubt China is the sharpest end of the pencil in the world right now, and Shanghai is the New York of China. It is an exciting place to be. That's why we are here."
(Source: Shanghai Daily)
