Malaysia’s state-owned private equity fund Ekuinas on Tuesday said it plans to launch its maiden private credit fund with a corpus of 800 million ringgit ($170.4 million).

“This direct lending model will broaden the spectrum of financing from Ekuinas, complementing our existing private equity investments in supporting the growth and customised needs of high-potential and high-growth companies,” Ekuinas CEO Syed Yasir Arafat Syed Abd Kadir said in a statement.

The firm also announced a commitment of 100 million ringgit to the second tranche of its Dana Asas fund, which was launched in March 2023.

“We plan to enhance our support for more high-growth, mid-market Bumiputera companies through Dana Asas II, adding a further commitment of 100 million ringgit into the new fund,” said Syed Yasir.

Equinas recorded two investments and one exit in the first half of 2024. “We divested 50.2% of our stake in ICON in March, deployed capital from our Tranche IV Fund with an 80% acquisition in Symbiotica in April, and committed 52% of the capital for Dana Asas with our second investment from the fund in Mizou earlier this month,” said the Ekuinas CEO.

Since its establishment in 2009, Ekuinas has built a portfolio of 43 companies through its direct and outsourced funds, deployed 5.1 billion ringgit in economic capital, and made total investments of 4.5 billion ringgit.

The company said that it has met its Bumiputera equity target, achieving 1.6 times the invested capital, totalling 6.4 billion ringgit, and increasing total shareholders’ value to 8.1 billion ringgit, with 2.1 times the invested capital.

Moreover, there has been a 28.1% increase in Bumiputera management and a 15.2% increase in Bumiputera employees since Ekuinas’s inception.

For the year ended December 31, 2023, Ekuinas’s cumulative committed direct investment reached 4.1 billion ringgit. The portfolio companies’ overall revenue grew by 7% year-on-year, with Exabytes and Medispec reporting revenue growth of 22.5% and 15.4%, respectively.

Although the overall EBITDA for portfolio companies declined by 7%, Orkim recorded an EBITDA growth of 8.9%, and Ekuinas’s Education Group recorded a significant 65.3% EBITDA growth.