KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 27): Singapore-based private equity firm Kendall Court has emerged as a substantial shareholder of Green Packet Bhd with a 7.19% equity stake in the company.

Kendall Court said in the statement today that its wholly-owned Summit Synergy Ltd had acquired 65 million shares in the telecommunications and technology company at 70 sen per share.

Kendall Court is an investment firm that manages equity-linked and mezzanine investments across Southeast Asia and has deployed and managed over US$600 million in the region and has invested into the natural resource, healthcare, consumer and telecom industries over the past decade.

Previously, Kendall Court had made an investment in Green Packet’s telecommunications subsidiary, Packet One Networks (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, which today is under Telekom Malaysia Bhd.

“The first time around was just a capital investment. This time, we look forward to contributing our knowledge and experience particularly in Asean,” said Kendall Court Founder Chris Chia, adding that the previous investment into the telecommunications company amounted to US$51 million.

“We are excited about Green Packet’s new focus areas. We have been monitoring the company’s progress and see prospects in their new ventures, especially its fintech business,” said Chia.

Noting that Green Packet is leveraging its e-wallet, payment gateway and wallet-as-a-service capabilities, Chia said the company “is clearly differentiating itself with clear focus to serve the education, e-Commerce and enterprise sectors instead of targeting the mass market”.

Through the stake purchase, Chia said Kendall Court hopes it could potentially help fast track Green Packet’s growing fintech business through its network and experience across the region.

“On top of that, Green Packet has yet to unlock the potential from the full spectrum of their assets such as with their money lending licence,” Chia said.

Another development for fintech players is the issuance of digital bank licenses. Singapore and Hong Kong had already issued their licenses with Malaysia expected to follow soon, said Kendall Court.

“Green Packet is on the right trajectory and must ready itself for the bigger opportunities presented such as digital bank opportunities. And we will fully support their efforts,” said Chia.

Additionally, with Green Packet being AI company G3 Global Bhd’s single largest shareholder with 32% stake, Chia sees Green Packet’s investment into G3 Global as “a big plus with a lot of potential”.

Notably, G3 Global along with the world’s most valued AI company, SenseTime and also China Harbour Engineering, are collaborating to set up Malaysia’s first AI park with a US$1 billion investment over the next five years.

Shares of Green Packet closed three sen or 4.14% higher at 75.5 sen today, with 20.78 million shares exchanging hands. This brings the company’s market capitalisation to RM682.4 million.