Malaysian pension fund KWAP invests in Uber

The size of the deal was not disclosed, although Reuters reported that it was $30 million, citing comments made by KWAP CEO Dato' Wan Kamaruzaman Bin Wan Ahmad. At that time, he did not mention Uber by name, merely saying the recipient was "a global technology company with a market value of over $60 billion."

Uber's most recent equity fundraising activity was a $3.5 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund at a valuation of $62.5 billion. The company has raised more than $8.7 billion across 12 rounds, plus a further $2.7 billion in debt financing, according to Crunchbase.

Uber operates in more than 400 cities worldwide, providing more than five million trips each day through a network of over 1.5 million driver partners. The company launched its services in Malaysia in January 2014 and now has a presence in five cities. The transportation regulator in August announced a licensing system for drivers intended to remove legal uncertainty regarding ride-hailing companies.

"Malaysia has demonstrated its forward-looking position in embracing new technology to help solve transportation challenges and create more economic opportunities," Travis Kalanick, CEO and co-founder of Uber, said in a statement.

KWAP's announced investment comes days after Grab, Uber's major rival in Malaysia and other Southeast Asian markets, raised a $750 million round of funding led by SoftBank. Last month, Uber agreed to merge its China business with that of local market leader Didi Chuxing, ending a costly battle between the two unprofitable businesses.

KWAP was established in 2007 and assumed responsibility for the Pensions Trust Fund established by the government in 1991 to cover federal pension liability. As of year-end 2014, it had total assets of MYR109.4 billion ($26.5 billion), of which MYR2.86 billion - or 2.59% - was deployed in private equity. This was spread across commitments to 22 funds and three direct investments.

In 2014 alone, the pension fund backed six new private equity funds and made one direct investment. The latter was biscuit producer Munchy Food Industries, where KWAP acquired a 30% stake through a 50-50 joint venture with Asiasons Capital's Dragonrider Opportunity Fund II. This was its first co-investment alongside a PE fund.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• North America
• Expansion
• Technology
• Malaysia
• USA
• KWAP
• Growth capital
• Transportation
• TMT