It is a multinational corporation that has offices and market presence in the US, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Maldives, Mauritius, Mongolia, Pacific Islands, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam.

[4] Although founded in 1938, the company was incorporated in Singapore on 20 December 1955 as Yeo Hiap Seng Canning and Sauce Factory Private Limited and was listed on 7 November 1968 and renamed to its present shorter name.

The 1950s saw the company can curry chicken, pioneer the bottling of soy milk, and package Asian drinks in Tetra Brik aseptic containers using the Ultra-high temperature processing system.

His chairmanship came at the same time as his family increased its stake in the company to 24.9%, just short of the 25% threshold above which they would be required by law to make an offer to buy out all other shareholders.

This marked a step forward in his fight with Malaysian billionaire investor Quek Leng Chan for control of YHS and its land holdings in Singapore's Bukit Timah district, which could be worth billions of dollars were they redeveloped into residential real estate.