Malaysia’s MBSB Bank has shortlisted two foreign firms to buy MIDF Asset Management and may decide within as little as two weeks, according to a person familiar with the matter.
“The company is in the final stages of evaluating and a decision is expected to be made soon, within the next two to four weeks,” the person tells Asia Asset Management (AAM).
MIDF Asset Management has just under 1 billion ringgit (US$234.6 million) of assets under management.
MBSB, Malaysia’s second largest Islamic bank, inherited the firm when it acquired Malaysian Industrial Development Finance from Permodalan Nasional for 1 billion ringgit in October 2023.
According to people familiar with the matter, the bank decided to sell the firm because asset management is not a core business. MBSB issued a request for proposals around six months ago, at which point it was also open to a strategic partnership for the asset management firm.
MIDF Asset Management posted a net profit of 1.12 million ringgit on revenue of 10.34 million ringgit in 2023. The 2024 results haven’t been released yet.
Spokespersons for MBSB did not immediately respond to questions from AAM.
