KV Asia buys Malaysia industrial glove manufacturer

This is the second investment from the firm’s second Southeast Asia fund, which reached a first close of USD 100m last year against a target of USD 300m. It follows the purchase of a 25% interest in Indonesian beauty and personal care brand Victoria Care for USD 43m. This represented KV Asia’s first foray into Indonesia.

Founded in 1987 and controlled by the Ong family, GBI supplies electrical personal protective equipment to blue-chip companies across over 40 countries. It sells products under the Novax brand. KV Asia will help the company transition from family ownership to a corporatized structure, opening up avenues for additional growth.

“We have been impressed with GBI’s position as a global name synonymous with electrical safety and see tremendous potential in GBI, it has demonstrated robust growth as a business in terms of market reach and profitability,” said Karam Butalia, co-founder and chairman of KV Asia, in a statement.

The private equity firm typically writes checks in a range of USD 25m to USD 75m, focusing on companies in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Most deals are control buyouts, although there is some scope for significant minority positions where a board seat and operational influence can be obtained. KV Asia closed its debut fund on USD 263m in 2013.

EY Malaysia acted as the exclusive financial advisor on the transaction while Rahmat Lim & Partners served as legal advisor to GBI’s shareholders.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Buyouts
• Industrials
• Malaysia
• manufacturing
• KV Asia