Malaysia's COPE backs corporate accounting business

COPE typically commits USD 5m-USD 15m per transaction. Its fourth fund closed at MYR 300m (USD 66m) in 2018, far exceeding the MYR 80m raised for Fund III in 2013. Assets under management currently exceed MYR 600m.

CC International has about 17,000 clients described as corporates, small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and business owners. The service offering includes accounting, business service outsourcing, tax, corporate secretarial, property management, business consultancy, and wealth management.

The business is said to cover the entire company lifecycle, from incorporation to cross-border and domestic growth, IPO, and succession planning. COPE estimates its target market as potentially including 1.2m SMEs.

The investment is focused on a regional geographic expansion, including Singapore, as well as an upgrade of the company’s technological capacity, including in areas such as cloud and artificial intelligence automation. CC International said digital innovation would transform the professional services industry by serving customers better.

This is COPE’s 19th investment since its inception in 2005 as a joint venture of asset manager Opus Capital and CMS Capital, the PE arm of Malaysian conglomerate Cahya Mata Sarawak.

The GP traditionally focuses on domestic middle-market companies that generate most of their revenues offshore in foreign currencies. It has also styled itself as one of few reputable shariah-compliant PE managers in the region.

COPE was active earlier this month with the exit of a significant minority stake in Malaysian pet food maker Pet World after a two-year hold to Creador, a fellow Malaysia-based and regionally active PE firm.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Support services
• Expansion
• Malaysia
• COPE Private Equity
• Financial Services
• professional services