Malaysian government unit to raise $95m infrastructure fund

The fund will target assets such as hospitals, schools and training institutions that are constructed on the basis of private finance in the public-private partnership model. It will buy into assets that are already complete and have long-term leases - of 25-30 years - from the government, according to The Malaysian Reserve.

Group CEO Nazim Rahman said the fund would be invested for a period of five years and after the end of its term, it will be converted into a unit trust fund, enabling retail investor participation.

Pelaburan Mara is principally involved in private equity investments, portfolio fund management, unit trust management, financial services and corporate advisory. Its investment portfolio covers businesses within the energy, infrastructure real estate and technology sectors.

As a risk diversification strategy and due to a shortage of good Shariah-compliant counters for investments, Rahman said Pelaburan Mara would move further into the private equity space. "So our future plan will see 40% of the funds in equity market, 35% in private equity investment and the balance 15% would be in fixed-income products," he said.

Pelaburan Mara targets to increase its assets under management to MYR1.4 billion towards the end of 2014.

In September, it announced a partnership with Saudi Arabia's Al-Rajhi Group's AEP Investment Management to establish a $200 million private equity real estate fund, with seed funding of $25 million from each partner.

Named the Basil Fund, it will invest in assets like data centers, industrial parks, and office buildings that are secured against long leases with major corporate and government tenants. Eventually, these assets would be listed as real estate investment trust (REIT).

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Infrastructure
• Infrastructure
• Fundraising
• Malaysia
• Infrastructure
• Fundraising
• Southeast Asia