PROFILES OF SUCCESSFUL CANADIAN ISMAILI'S

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) January 22, 2012 -- Associated Press: ISMAILI'S IN BUSINESS

Business in Vancouver, Feature 40 Under 40
Hanif Muljiani, President Owner, The Portables

"Idi Amin basically said get out or die."
Hanif Muljiani recalls the threat that spurred many Ismailis to leave Uganda and prompted his family to make its way to Vancouver. For nearly a year, Muljiani's family lived downtown, the six of them sharing a two-bedroom hotel suite. The family moved to South Vancouver and East Vancouver before Muljiani enrolled at the University of British Columbia .

After completing accounting studies, he landed at a leading chartered accounting firm, eager to get his CA designation and then get out.


Once that mission was accomplished, Muljiani became controller at The Portables , a Richmond-based firm making exhibits with $2 million in annual revenues, in 1991.
Four years later, he was promoted to general manager, responsible for the overall management of the company, including sales. Under his guidance, the company hired salespeople, opened offices and streamlined production.

In 2000, with revenues now up to $10 million, Muljiani raised $5 million and bought the company. As owner, he further diversified operations, adding what Muljiani dubbed "portable marketing solutions."


The company started offering labour to help with trade shows, and creative work for promotional pieces and promotional products. The company now does non-trade-related graphics, a division that has grown to $1.5 million in revenues annually and won over clients such as Estee Lauder and A&W .

The Portables launched an education division that trains salespeople to get the maximum returns from trade shows. That division now spins $500,000 in revenues each year. And an installation division provides the labour to set up and take down displays, bringing in $1.3 million a year in revenue.


Muljiani acknowledges that the changes have been challenging, but The Portables is now up to $12 million annually in revenues.


"Training our sales force has been an ongoing challenge, and it's never going to stop," he said.

Meanwhile, Muljiani acknowledges his roots when discussing his own success. The tight local Ismaili community includes Ballard Power Systems Inc. CEO Firoz Rasul and Xantrex Technology Inc. CEO Mossadiq Umedaly . "Your dad's in business, your uncle's in business. It's a mindset that is big on business, education and moving into professions."

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Rahim Jaffer, MP


Rahim Jaffer is a 30 year-old entrepreneur in the Old Strathcona district of Edmonton. His family came to Canada to escape persecution in Uganda. The government of Idi Amin confiscated their business and their home and sent them as penniless refugees to a new country. His family's experience has given Rahim a unique perspective on Canada. He sees how lucky we all are to live in one of the world's freest and richest nations.

Rahim gambled on a coffee bar and has made it into the success it is today. He is co- owner of a highly successful Timothy's franchise in the heart of Old Strathcona.

Rahim is active in his community and has been a member of the Old Strathcona Foundation and the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce. He has lived in Edmonton for 25 years, is fluently bilingual and has served as a legislative assistant in Ottawa. He also has a bachelor degree of Social Sciences from the University of Ottawa.

On June 2, 1997, Rahim was first elected to the House of Commons as the federal representative for Edmonton-Strathcona. He was re-elected on November 27, 2000 and is currently serving as the senior critic of National Revenue as well as deputy critic of Foreign Affairs. Earlier critic posts have included Industry, the Environment, Foreign Affairs Critic for Asia-Pacific, and the Chair of the Small Business Task Force. He has also been the Deputy Leader of the party for a short time. Additionally, Rahim works in Quebec to promote the Canadian Alliance message for national unity


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Hilfiger, Gap and Calvin Klein have all been named as possible suitors for the business Somani built in the New Millennium.

Moe Somani, born in Kampala, Uganda, keeps a low profile in Vancouver, Canada, but he has definitely hit the big time in the business world. Over the past few years, clothing giants Hilfiger, Gap and Calvin Klein. have all been named as possible suitors for an international clothing empire that Somani built, now worth as much as £393 million. Somani refuses to give interviews, but with that kind of interest in Somani's European-based clothing empire, Millennium Jeans International, it's going to be hard staying out of the limelight.


The success of Millennium Jeans International since its founding, in 1997, has landed Somani, who owns 100% of this privately held company's shares--an enviable spot on the Rich Retail 1000, at No. 110 with a net worth of £366 million.

In August 2001, Millennium Jeans International announced the launch of a strategic review with advisers about selling all or part of the company. Industry analysts suggest Gap, Hilfiger and Klein. were all interested. The announcement "signals the completion of the first stage of our strategic review and is a clear and visible step in maximizing value for Somani." Industry watchers suggest the IPO is a way to lure potential bidders who didn't want the whole company, which has assets in North America, European Union, Africa, Latin America and Asia.


Millennium Jeans International got its start when Somani, a York Scholar who also has a BBA and an IT Technology Degree opened Millennium Jeans, a small retail clothing store in Vancouver, Canada. The business grew steadily, with Millennium Jeans its best-known store in Canada.

In 1997, Somani traveled to Asia to design his own brand name label, and rapidly expanded. In early 2000, an undisclosed U.S.-based marketing firm purchased Millennium Jean's stake, but when the firm got into financial difficulties, Somani took the stake back. Somani renamed the company Millennium Jeans International in 2000 and took it internationally, eventually opening stores in more than 32 countries. Somani has been on a tear since, with more than 350 private label counter titles to his name worldwide.

The future ownership of Millennium Jeans International is up in the air, but Somani, as 100% controlling shareholder, is bound to come out of any sale with hundreds of millions in hand.

So far at least, analysts see the Millennium Jeans International story as a win-win situation. Somani recently sold part of his company to International Clothing retailer Tommy Hilfiger for an estimated £75 million. At the time of sale, Somani was planning to open a retail store in every major city world wide, instead of supplying his brand to big box retailers. Somani convinced Hilfiger to buy into his concept in order to gain favorable market share, and the deal was struck. Where you now see a Hilfiger retail store, it was initially a proposed Millennium Jeans International Store.

Somani also a successful high-tech entrepreneur has other business interests which include Digital Software Solutions for the Online Gaming Industry, land based casinos in Europe and on cruise ships in the Baltic sea and in the Mediterranean, restaurants and bottled water companies in Europe and Asia, and private label clothing factories in China. Those close to him say he never talks about his success, and is a humble and approachable person who loves to share his extensive knowledge with others.

Plush closes up and sues resort owners
By IAN MYLCHREEST

BUSINESS PRESS

The Summerlin nightclub Plush has closed it doors and sued its landlord for over $25 million. The suit alleges that promises made to the club were not kept and that it was obstructed in trying to market itself to Summerlin residents.

The club claims that it was promised that it would have extensive signage in rooms and throughout the property to advertise the club. The suit also claims the corridor outside the club was supposed to be let to retail tenants who never matieralized. That allegedly hurt the club's traffic flow.

Plush also alleges that it was promised a marquis on Rampart Boulevard.

The owners did not apparently apply to the City of Las Vegas for the planning permission although a representative of the resort told the Business Press in an earlier interview that Summerlin would only permit one marquis for the property and that had gone to the Rampart Casino.

Plush spokesperson Kim Koury said the Rampart had allowed Plush to advertise some events on its marquis and that those had sold out. For the most part, however, the landlord cut off attempts to advertise and market the club.

She also denied that Summerlin was a less than promising nightclub location. "We were the only club in Summerlin," she added indignantly.

More problems arose for Plush when the resort objected to its using the J.W. Marriott name in advertising to identify the location. The club was told that Marriott did not want its name associated with drinking and nightlife but the suit alleges that was merely a pretext to thwart Plush.

Koury pointed out that the Irish pub at the resort routinely advertised but that establishment is owned and operated by the owners.

The hotel is owned by the Lalji family of Vancouver, B.C., which has extensive real estate holdings. Canadian Business magazine ranked the family number 46 on its list of the 100 richest Canadians and estimated its wealth at C$884 million.

The family bought the hotel out of the bankruptcy of "The Resort at Summerlin" for $80 million. It had cost $275 million to build.

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