Kendall Court buys 7.1% stake in Green Packet
Private equity firm sees prospects in new ventures
KUALA LUMPUR: Singapore-based private equity (PE) firm Kendall Court has emerged as a substantial shareholder of Green Packet Bhd.
Through its wholly-owned unit, Summit Synergy Limited, Kendall Court acquired 65 million shares in Green Packet via a directbusiness deal at a price of RM0.70 a share, equivalent to a 7.1% stake in the international telecommunications and technology group.
Kendall Court is an investment firm that manages equity-linked and mezzanine investments across South-east Asia and has deployed and managed over Us$600mil in the region and has invested into the natural resource, healthcare, consumer and telecom industries over the past decade.
The PE firm founder Chris Chia said his firm had previously made a successful investment in Green Packet’s telecommunications subsidiary, Packet One Networks (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, which is under Telekom Malaysia Bhd.
He said: “The first time around was just a capital investment. This time, we look forward to contributing our knowledge and experience particularly in Asean.” Kendall Court’s previous investment into the telecommunications company amounted to Us$51mil.
He added that the firm has been monitoring the company’s progress and see prospects in their new ventures, especially its fintech business.
Leveraging its e-wallet, payment gateway and wallet-as-a-service capabilities, Green Packet is clearly differentiating itself with clear focus to serve the education, e-commerce and enterprise sectors instead of targeting the mass market.
According to Chia, Kendall Court’s hopes it can potentially help fast track Green Packet’s growing fintech business through its network and experience across the region. He also believes there are opportunities for Green Packet to look at regional markets.
“On top of that, Green Packet has yet to unlock the potential from the full spectrum of their assets such as with their money lending license,” he noted.
Another development for fintech players is the issuance of digital bank licenses. Singapore and Hong Kong had already issued their licenses with Malaysia expected to follow soon.
“Greenpacket is on the right trajectory and must ready itself for the bigger opportunities presented such as digital bank opportunities. And we will fully support their efforts,” said Chia in a statement.
Green Packet is also the single largest shareholder of G3 Global Bhd (G3) with an equity interest of 32%. Chia sees Green Packet’s investment into G3 as a big plus with a lot of potential.
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