PETALING JAYA: Ekuiti Nasional Bhd (Ekuinas) is looking to nurture Syarikat Hang Tuah Sdn Bhd, the maker of Kopi Hang Tuah, into a business with topline of about RM50mil over the next three years, with that scale expected to give the heritage coffee brand broader access to capital.
Ekuinas chief executive officer Aliff Omar Mohamad Omar said the focus of its capacity-building programme was not to inject capital into participating companies, but to strengthen their business capabilities so they could eventually raise capital on their own.
“We want to open the doors for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) so they are ready to receive investment from outside.
“And we do it through what we call a value-creation plan,” he said at a media briefing following a visit to Kopi Hang Tuah’s factory in Seberang Perai.
“From our perspective, we believe once a company hits RM50mil in top line, that is when the door will open.”
Kopi Hang Tuah is the first company selected under Ekuinas’ Capacity Building programme, which was launched in April to help high-potential lower mid-market bumiputra companies strengthen their business fundamentals and become investment-ready.
Unlike Ekuinas’ private equity and private credit pillars, the capacity-building arm is not an investment platform.
Instead, it works directly with selected companies to identify gaps in their businesses and implement bespoke value-creation plans over three years.
Aliff said the programme was developed based on Ekuinas’ experience working with entrepreneurs and management teams, which showed that capital accounted for only part of the challenges faced by companies seeking to scale.
“Maybe 30% to 40% is a problem of capital. The bigger problem is actually capacity,” he said.
This includes the ability to build the right organisation, enter new markets and scale operations, he said, adding that capital alone did not guarantee growth.
For Kopi Hang Tuah, Ekuinas will focus on six areas – strategy, finance, people, sales and marketing, operations, and regulatory and compliance – as it works with the company to prepare it for its next stage of growth.
Aliff said Kopi Hang Tuah already had several fundamentals needed to scale, including market access, production capacity and a strong balance sheet.
