Affin Hwang AM launches private equity arm

PETALING JAYA: Affin Hwang Asset Management Berhad (Affin Hwang AM) has launched its private equity business, Bintang Capital Partners Berhad, a venture which first kicked off with the purchase of Bitsmedia Pte Ltd, the company behind the world’s leading Muslim lifestyle app, Muslim Pro, in June 2017.

“The launch of Bintang marks the culmination of nearly two years of effort by the team to build the private equity business, an initiative led by Johan RozaliWathooth who joined Affin Hwang AM as deputy managing director in June 2016,” Affin Hwang AM managing director Teng Chee Wai said.

“When we first came up with the idea of setting up a private equity business in 2015, I realised that the strong demand from both our institutional and high net-worth clients for more sophisticated investment solutions, including private equity, will only grow over time.

“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,” Teng said.

Soon Poh Lean joins Bintang as a partner, while Theresa Lim and Andrew Tan join as investment director and vice-president respectively.

All three previously worked for RHB Investment Bank’s Mergers and Acquisitions department.The Bintang team will be jointly led by Johan as managing partner, and Poh Lean as partner.