KUALA LUMPUR: A report by a tech newsletter that Malaysian e-commerce pioneer FashionValet (FV) has been sold in a fire sale to local investment firm NXBT Partners has stirred discussion among Malaysians who are questioning the valuation of the transaction.
A post on X by @FreeMsian highlighted concerns about Khazanah's decision to sell FV for the diminished amount.
As at Dec 31, 2023, Khazanah held a nine per cent interest in Fashion Valet.
"How do Khazanah sell 50 per cent below fair value but when they buy, they pay over the roof?" the post read.
"From RM100 million to just RM1 million, not including the holding cost for this scam investment?"
The post referenced a tweet by @EkonomiRakyatMY which cited Asia Tech Review (ATR) report indicating that NXBT Partners now holds a 51.25 per cent stake in FV after acquiring shares from Khazanah, state-owned Permodalan Nasional Bhd, and other investors for approximately USD1.1 million (RM4.79mil).
"That indicates FV is now valued just slightly over USD2 million(RM8.71mil). That's down significantly from a post-money valuation of SGD104.5 million (RM348.68mil) when it raised money from Khazanah in 2019," ATR reported.
ATR reported that NXBT Partners is a personal investment vehicle owned by Malaysian entrepreneur Afzal Abdul Rahim, who is known for his role as the Time dotCom Bhd chief executive officer, a telecommunications company valued at RM9.4 billion.
Time dotCom, which employs around 1,400 staff, is also part of Khazanah's investment portfolio.
"Thank God I never bought (from FV). Not their target market anyway. It's very suspicious how it got hyped so quickly—seems like a 'too good to be true' kind of business," says user @nuraz_mr
"If Khazanah were to be a private company, "it would have been bankrupt ages ago or undergone reshuffle of its top management," @mkj_78 commented.
One commenter proposed directing questions to Suhana Dewi Selamat, Khazanah's executive director while another questioned whether the presentation paper FV submitted to Khazanah's investment committee is still accessible for review
"I don't know how to talk about economics, but why are Khazanah and PNB doing this? Aren't they big companies? Why would they invest in an influencer company like FV? It's really strange," questioned @syedshafff1.
News Straits Times has reached out to Khazanah for comment.