Actis invests in Malaysia’s GHL, Creador exits
Emerging markets-focused private equity firm Actis has invested MYR290 million ($65.6 million) in Malaysia-listed payment services provider GHL Group, facilitating a full exit for Creador.
According to a statement, Actis has taken a 44.4% interest in the company, including the 28.3% stake previously held by Creador. The deal represents a 2.8x return for Creador and an IRR of 40% in Malaysian ringget terms. The acquisition has triggered a mandatory takeover offer for the entire company.
Of Actis' commitment, MYR185 million will go to Creador’s Cycas unit and MYR105 million to Tobikiri Capital, an investment vehicle of Simon Loh, GHL's executive vice chairman. It equates to a cash consideration of MYR1 per share. The stock fell about 12% following the announcement and was trading around MYR1.05 as of morning April 3.
GHL provides payment services and solutions encompassing physical, internet and mobile payments. The company manages more than 150,000 point of sales in Southeast Asia that enable credit card, debit card, prepaid contactless payment, loyalty, prepaid top up as well as bill payment collection services.
Creador invested the company in 2013, taking a 28% stake for $19.7 million. It claims GHL saw revenue grow from MYR165 million in 2014 to MYR246 million in 2016. Value-add support during the holding period included the acquisition of E-pay Asia in 2014 as well as the launch of merchant acquiring businesses in Malaysia and the Philippines in 2015 and 2016, respectively.
Founded in 2011, Creador focuses on middle market businesses in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and India. It typically makes investments of $10-50 million. This represents the first exit from the firm's second fund, which closed at $330 million in 2014. Creador is currently investing its third fund.
Actis made the GHL investment via Actis Global IV fund, which has $745.5 million of capital under management and is targeting a corpus of $3.5 billion. It is active across Asia, Africa and Latin America.
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