International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private investment arm of the World Bank Group has made an investment of US$7.5 million in a private equity vehicle of Emerging Markets Investment Advisers Pte Ltd (EMIA), according to an IFC official.
The investment was proposed back in September 2016, and made to the Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar Development Fund II (CLMDF II), a generalist private equity fund which targets investments in small and medium-sized enterprises for the three nations.
The target size of the fund was set at US$70 million and IFC’s equity investment capped at 20 percent of the total commitments. Other investors in EMIA include Norfund, Finnfund, Ministry of the Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, and the Swiss Investment Fund for Emerging Markets.
Additionally, IFC has also contributed to EMIA’s previous fund, the Cambodia-Laos Development Fund (CLDF) which was set up in late 2009. The fund was established to capitalize on economic growth in the region and the emergence of new-economy entrepreneurs and businesses.
This new fund marks EMIA’s entry into Myanmar and similar to its first, the fund will retain a strategy and investment characteristics consistent with those of CLDF. It will take a generalist approach and invests across a variety of sectors including agriculture, education, healthcare, retail, financial and business services.
The company’s portfolio includes Cambodia’s AMK, a leading microfinance institution; Planet Online, an Internet service provider in Laos and iCare Benefits, an employee benefits program providing employees in Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar.
IFC has been actively investing in the private sector, totaling an accumulative investment of US$556 million from its own account as of the end of June 2017.
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