Navis buys stake in cinema operator
PETALING JAYA: Navis Capital Partners Ltd has bought a majority stake in the country’s third largest cinema operator MCAT Box Office Sdn Bhd (MBO) at a price of Rm104mil.
The investment was done via a combination of existing shares from the current sole shareholder, Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Manaf, and new shares issued for a substantial capital injection from Navis.
Upon completion of the exercise, Navis and Rashid will emerged as the majority shareholder of MBO.
The exercise was revealed a few days after Navis sealed a deal buy a 28% stake in private education group, SEG International Bhd. MBO is its second Malaysian investment this year.
Navis partner Tan Chow Yin said that the private equity firm had been working on the deal for a while and that it was not a sudden move. However, he did not disclose the value of the stake Navis had proposed to acquire.
In a press statement Tan commented: “Movie-going is a favourite pastime of many Malaysians and ticket sales have risen throughout good and bad times for the domestic economy.
“We hope we can bring moviegoing to a new level for our faithful customers.”
He said the shareholders had planned many initiatives including digitalisation and refurbishment of existing cinemas, and bringing MBO to new locations nationwide.
In the same statement, Rashid said: “This is an exciting new phase for MBO. The Navis team convinced us that their investment and involvement will help us improve what we have started.”
Navis, which has Us$3bil (Rm9.2bil) in equity capital, has a long established track record in Asian private equity.
MBO is a private investment of Rashid, who is also the chairman of property developer SP Setia Bhd and non-executive director of engineering and construction company Loh & Loh Corp Bhd.