Ekuinas to list Al-Ikhsan in three to five years

Al-Ikhsan Megastore in Johor Baru.

KUALA LUMPUR: Ekuiti Nasional Bhd (Ekuinas), which acquired a 35% stake in Al-Ikhsan Sports Sdn Bhd earlier this year, plans to list the local sportswear retailer on Bursa Malaysia within the next three to five years.

Minister in the Prime Minister's department Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan (BN-Kota Belud) said the listing would allow Ekuinas to complete its divestment exercise and realise gains on investments.

"The purpose of this acquisition is to list Al-Ikhsan on Bursa Malaysia in three to five years and allow Ekuinas to realise gains on its investments," he said when replying to Datuk Abd Latiff Ahmad (BN-Mersing) at the Dewan Rakyat here today. 

On July 26, government-linked private equity fund management company Ekuinas announced its stake acquisition in Al-Ikhsan, its maiden venture into the sports retail segment, for RM68.6mil.

Moving forward, Abdul Rahman said Ekuinas is expected to invest up to RM400mil next year, using internal reserves and returns from divestments in matured assets.

He said Ekuinas' investments would be focused on education, oil and gas, healthcare, fast moving consumer goods, retail and tourism sectors.

Ekuinas was established in September 2009 to increase Bumiputera participation in the economy, whereby up to June 2016, it received funding injection worth RM3.9bil from the government.

Answering Dr Lee Boon Chye's (PKR-Gopeng) question on Ekuinas' returns to the government since inception, Abdul Rahman said the first and second phase of investments, launched in 2010 and 2012 respectively, recorded an internal rate of return of 14.8% and 13% as at end-2015 - Bernama.