Dubai Investment on the hunt

MALAYSIAN CAPITAL MARKET SUMMIT 2007

DUBAI Investment Group (DIG), which has invested just under US$300 million (RM1 billion) in Malaysia to date, is looking to invest more here and in Asia, its managing director Datuk Amin Rafie Othman said.

Amin: The company is committed to Asia, particularly Southeast Asia

"Our financial year is coming to an end, so we're already seriously looking for our next serious investment. We're in talks with people all the time. We're open to both strategic and passive stakes," he told reporters on the sidelines of the second day of the 12th Malaysian Capital Market Summit yesterday.

DIG particularly likes the property sector in Malaysia at present.

"We like it. There's still potential upside. Relative to our Asian neighbours, property prices are still relatively low in Malaysia," Amin said.

DIG's largest shareholding in property here is a 7 per cent stake in Bolton Bhd.

The group, Amin said, looks for a rate of return of no less than 20 per cent from all its investments.

Asked if Malaysia had provided those kind of returns, he said: "Yes, it depends on valuations and if we came in at the right price, (but) we've on the whole made money in Malaysia," he said.

It mostly holds minority stakes in Malaysia, with few exceptions such as a 40 per cent strategic stake in Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd, for which it paid RM840 million.

"We are committed to Asia, particularly Southeast Asia, and we're on the lookout for good investments," he said.

In Asia, DIG is most heavily invested in Hong Kong and China. The group has no plans to make hostile acquisitions.

"We'd rather not. The key for us is finding good partners that we can work with," Amin said.

By New Straits Times (By Adeline Paul Raj)