Private equity fund buying 44.3pc stake from 2 vendors for RM290.24m
LONDON-BASED private equity fund Actis is buying a 44.3 per cent stake in payment service provider GHL Systems Bhd from two vendors, including its executive vice-chairman Simon Loh, for RM290.24 million.
The acquisition, made via Actis Stark (Mauritius) Ltd, has triggered a mandatory takeover offer for the remaining shares in GHL.
Actis, in its takeover notice to GHL yesterday, said it would offer to buy the remaining shares and subsequently delist GHL once it owned a more than 75 per cent stake.
The fund is acquiring 290.24 million shares of RM1 each in GHL from Tobikiri Capital Ltd, which is Loh’s investment vehicle, and Cycas, a unit of private equity fund Creador Sdn Bhd.
The share sale agreement is expected to be completed in five business days from yesterday.
Actis will then offer to buy all the remaining shares in GHL which it does not already own for RM1 each.
The offer would remain open for acceptances until 5pm on the 21st day after the posting date, it said.
Actis, according to a GHL statement, is a leading growth market investor with a growing portfolio of investments in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
GHL said Creador, which had been a shareholder since 2014, would dispose of its entire 28.3 per cent stake to Actis. While this marks Creador’s exit, Loh remains a substantial GHL shareholder with a 19.1 per cent stake.
“Actis has extensive experience in growth market payments, having invested in and helped build out leading payments platforms that span more than 50 countries,” said GHL.
“Actis’ investment into GHL will give it an immediate exposure to the exciting prospects of the fast-growing Asean payment space with its 620 million population, with a growing consumers middle-class driven by favourable demographics,” it added.
Meanwhile, Loh said he welcomed Actis as a partner due to its impressive track record in the payments sector, especially in emerging markets.
“Together, we are fully aligned in our ambition to become the leading end-to-end payment service provider in Asean by deploying world-class payment infrastructure, technology and further expanding our growing footprint into new Asean markets,” he added.
Actis partner Hossam Abou Moussa said: “We are excited by the opportunity to partner with Loh and GHL management team and bring what we have learned in other markets to help GHL to scale and cement its position as a regional leader”.
GHL was listed on Bursa Malaysia in 2003, with a market capitalisation of RM712 million as of March 8.
Its share price fell nine sen to RM1.10 yesterday.