KUALA LUMPUR (July 16): Ekuiti Nasional Bhd (Ekuinas) is divesting its entire equity interest, together with its minority partners, in private tertiary education provider APIIT Lanka Pvt Ltd, based on an enterprise value of approximately RM41 million to BG Investments Pte Ltd.

In a statement today, Ekuinas said BG Investments is a Sri Lanka-based investor with exposure in industries such as financial services, marine, education, and healthcare.

Ekuinas chief executive officer Syed Yasir Arafat Syed Abd Kadir said Ekuinas' decision to divest APIIT Lanka is in line with its investment strategy to crystallise its assets when the time is right, as well as finding the right partner for the assets.

"With BG Investments, we are confident that with their local knowledge, expertise, and resources, we see them as the right owners who will be able to take APIIT Lanka through their next growth phase," he said.

Established in 2000, APIIT Lanka is an international collaboration between Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation (APIIT) in Malaysia and ExpoLanka Holdings PLC, with links to a wide range of reputable universities in the UK and Australia.

APIIT Lanka's objective is to provide higher education of international standards to produce globally competitive graduates who will meet the demands of modern society.

Since its establishment, APIIT Lanka has produced close to 2,000 graduates.

Syed Yasir Arafat added that APIIT Lanka has been growing steadily, which contributed to one of Ekuinas' key achievements — the opening of a new satellite campus in Kandy, Sri Lanka.

"This gave APIIT Lanka the platform to scale the business by growing the number of programmes offered and tapping into a new market.

"We are pleased to report that the divestment generated a Gross Internal Rate Return (IRR) of 17.5% and a money multiple of 2.2 times the capital invested.

"This will bring Ekuinas' total realisation proceeds to more than RM2.7 billion," he said.