IRIS FINDS STRATEGIC PARTNER
Company will subscribe to 10pc stake and act as joint-anchor investor alongside Felda Investment Corp
FEDERAL Land Development Authority’s (Felda) associate company Iris Corp Bhd has secured a strategic partner and joint-anchor investor as it refocuses on its core identification solutions business.
Its acting chief executive officer Choong Choo Hock said the board had approved the entry of a new investor to act as a joint anchor alongside Felda Investment Corp Sdn Bhd (FIC), which has a 21.33 per cent stake in Iris.
“We have found a strategic partner to subscribe to the 10 per cent stake under the private placement, and we will be making the announcement early next week,” he said during Felda chairman Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad’s visit to Iris’s smart technology complex, here, yesterday.
While he did not disclose whether the strategic partner is local or foreign, Choong said the investor’s business portfolio was closely related to that of Iris.
It was earlier reported that Iris intended to place out up to 10 per cent of its stake to potential investors.
Finding a strategic partner is part of Iris’s three-pronged corporate restructuring plan announced last month, which was approved by FIC and the board of Felda.
The plan involves a fundraising exercise potentially involving equity funding, short-term debt financing, divesting non-essential assets and accounts receivable factoring.
Shahrir said Felda was positive on the development and would maintain its interest in Iris.
“Felda, through FIC, will maintain its interest and stake in Iris, and we see the coming in of a new investor and also a strategic partner as a positive development for the company,” he said.
According to news reports, Felda was “closely” studying its investments in property developer Encorp Bhd and Iris, after selling its stake in Malayan Banking Bhd.
Shahril was quoted as saying that Iris was a “very good technology company” with value and intellectual property (IP) that was unique to Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Iris co-founder and technical adviser Chas Yap said the company would be partnering Norwegian biometrics company Zwipe to look into the potential for biometric smartcard applications in Malaysia.
“Iris has been in trusted identification (ID) business for over 20 years and our facilities are all geared towards trusted ID. Zwipe, on the other hand, is pure payments and they’re an IP company as well.
“We are looking towards a future where we merge finance and ID together,” he said.
Yap said Iris would need further investments to upgrade its manufacturing capabilities.
“Principally, we will need to invest in equipment. This is a new form of processing technology, and we need advanced equipment. We might also need to invest in resources, depending on the joint efforts we are going to develop,” said Yap.