ONCE a major player in acquiring assets within the education sector, Ekuiti Nasional Bhd (Ekuinas) have been divesting a large number of its collection of assets and have put its profits to good use.
In a Jan 17-23, 2015 issue of FocusM, the government-linked private equity firm was in talks of finalising the deal to buy a ‘high-profile’ education brand, namely Brickfields Asia College (BAC) for some RM70 mil.
At the time, Navis Capital Partners Ltd and an Islamic financial fund management company were also among the frontrunners for the deal.
Back then, the education sector was Ekuinas’ second largest (28.8%) investment portfolio, following behind the oil and gas sector at 34.3%. The company’s education assets at the time also included APIIT Education Group and the Sapura Smart School.
However, on Jan 9, 2018 New Straits Times reported that Ekuinas sold its 100% stake in APIIT Education Group for RM725 mil, followed by the letting go of its 100% stake in Tenby Education Group on Jan 17, 2018.
The firm continued its divestment spree by also selling its entire 60% stake in Tranglo Sdn Bhd to TNG FinTech Group Inc for RM114.9 mil on Oct 12, 2018, as reported by The Star.
In the following year, The Star also reported on May 4, 2019 that Ekuinas planned to acquire subsidiaries of government-linked companies (GLCs), with its CEO already identified several potential companies in mind.
On Mar 18, 2019, an article by The Star showed Ekuinas bought a 40% stake in a web hosting and cloud service provider, Exabytes Capital Group for RM44 mil.
Later in the year, Ekuinas conducted due diligence on frozen processed meat manufacturer PrimaBaguz Sdn Bhd in a bid to realise its investment, reported The Edge on Sept 25, 2019.
It was told that the exercise comes nearly six years after Ekuinas acquired the company for RM40 mil. However, almost a year later on Aug 27, 2020 The Malaysian Reserve reported that Ekuinas divested its entire stake in PrimaBaguz to Johnsonville International LLC based on an enterprise value of RM175 mil.
According to a statement by the company, the sale attracted significant foreign direct investment (FDI) and generated a gross internal rate of return (IRR) of 22.1% and 3.8x the capital invested.
The divestment brought the company’s total realisation proceeds to RM3.1 bil, by far.
Starting April 2020, the whole journey proved beneficial to more than just the company. A New Straits Times article reported that Ekuinas donated a total of RM10 mil worth of contributions through its Dana Ihsan Covid-19 Iltizam, with a mission to aid those who were directly affected by the pandemic.
The contributions came in the form of:
- Medical equipment for hospitals, along with food and apparel provisions for doctors, patients and the urban poor.
- Financial support for the families of selected past and current trainees of Ekuinas’ graduate trainee programme.
- Financial aid for eligible new students who will be attending educational institutions under Ekuinas’ portfolio of companies.
- Financial assistance for eligible employees of Ekuinas’ portfolio companies.
- Digitalisation support for Bumiputera SMEs.
Following that effort, Ekuinas shared RM120 of gains to Yayasan Pelaburan Bumiputera (YPB) for the benefit of its Bumiputera unitholders of trust funds, managed by Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB).
This was reported by The Edge on Sept 3, 2020.
In the article, Ekuinas mentioned that ‘the distribution was derived from the gains recorded from the company’s maiden fund, Ekuinas Direct (Tranche I) Fund’, bringing the total distribution to PNB at RM320 mil, following the RM200 mil that was disbursed in 2014.
“Ekuinas’ performance thus far has proven the private equity model plays a positive role in generating economic growth. This can be seen from our achievements where we are able to generate returns from our investments and subsequently sharing our gains with the wider Bumiputera community,” Ekuinas CEO Syed Yasir Arafat Syed Abd Kadir said in a statement. – Sept 21, 2020
