MAKKAH, Saudi Arabia: The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) has increased its stake in PMB Tijari Sdn Bhd to 33 per cent to expand its venture into Shariah leasing business in Malaysia, said Pelaburan Mara Bhd (PMB) Group chief executive officer Nazim Rahman.
"The increased equity reflects ICD's confidence in the potential success of the partnership, and in the growth of the Malaysian economy given that the success of PMB Tijari as a financial services company is very much linked to the growth and depth of the private sector in Malaysia.
“When PMB acquired PMB Tijari in January (this year), ICD stake was only 10 per cent,” said Nazim, adding that the PMB's newly-rebranded financial services arm was formerly known as KFH Ijarah House (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd.
"The institutional support provided by both PMB and ICD would allow PMB Tijari to grow beyond the local market and we hope to tap on the resources of both parties to realise this objective," he told Bernama.
ICD is a multilateral organisation and part of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group while PMB is an investment and asset management company wholly-owned by Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA).
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PMB and ICD signed the shareholders agreement for the newly-rebranded PMB Tijari at the conclusion of the IDB Group’s Board of Governors Annual Meetings in Jeddah last Thursday.
At the signing event, ICD represented by its chief executive officer (CEO) Khaled Al-Aboodi, was earlier quoted as saying that Malaysia was a key partner and ICD hoped to scale up the cooperation with the Malaysian government and the private sector.
Khaled said apart from its direct equity investment made into the joint-venture company, ICD was also bringing in its affiliate, Bahrain-based global leasing technical partner, Ijarah Management Company (IMC), to provide technical assistance and necessary tools for PMB Tijari.
Apart from Malaysia, IMC which was established in 2011, operates in more than seven leasing companies globally, including in Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and West African countries, he said.
PMB Tijari chief executive officer Tengku Ahmad Badli Shah Raja Hussin said the company specialised in the commercial sector of the Islamic financial services, which included Shariah-compliant financial solutions such as leasing, business financing and vehicle financing.
"The all new PMB Tijari is set to offer most competitive and innovative Shariah-compliant financing services in the industry," he added.-- Bernama