Malaysia's Affin Hwang launches private equity unit

“When we first came up with the idea of setting up a private equity business in 2015, I realized that the strong demand from both our institutional and high net worth clients for more sophisticated investment solutions, including private equity, would only grow over time,” Teng Chee Wai, managing director of Affin Hwang, said in a statement.

“We came to the conclusion that in order for us to successfully capture this opportunity, we had to move quickly to establish a private equity business with its own proprietary deal flow and a dedicated team.”

Based in Kuala Lumpur, Bintang will invest mid-sized companies in Asia Pacific that are considered fast-growing with proven track records. They must also have an existing Asian footprint and the intention to grow into regional or global champions. The subsidiary will work exclusively with its Singapore-based partner CMIA Capital Partners.

Affin and CMIA first collaborated last year with the acquisition of Singapore’s Bitsmedia, a company that operates an app that provides Muslims with accurate prayer times. The product, known as Muslim Pro, was said to be the leading app for the global Muslim population with at least 45 million downloads and 10 million monthly average users. 

Johan Rozali-Wathooth, Affin Hwang’s deputy managing director, will assume the role of Bintang’s managing partner. Soon Poh Lean, Theresa Lim, and Andrew Tan, all former M&A professionals at RHB Investment Bank, will join as partner, investment director, and vice president, respectively.

Affin Hwang was incorporated in 1997 as Hwang-DBS Unit Trust and acquired by Affin Banking Group in 2014. It operates across commercial, Islamic and investment banking services, money broking, fund management and underwriting of life and general insurance. It also maintains an Islamic investment subsidiary known as AIIMAN Asset Management.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• GPs
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• Malaysia
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• CMIA Capital Partners