Kuala Lumpur, 19 January 2010 – Al Faiz Fund 1 Limited (Al Faiz Fund 1), a Shariah-compliant private fund established in Labuan and jointly managed by the licensed fund management subsidiaries of the Kuwait Finance House (Malaysia) Berhad Group (KFH-Malaysia) and Kuwait listed Al-Aman KSCC, has entered into agreements to acquire a 60 percent stake in KS Aquaculture Sdn Bhd and Ikmaju Sdn Bhd (‘the Group’). This development marks the Fund’s first investment in the local aquaculture industry and third investment in Malaysia.

The acquisitions will create the largest marine fish breeding, hatchery and rearing operations in Malaysia. ‘The Group’ owns over 6,100 fish cages on a total area of over 142,000 square meters in Selangor and Johor; and 50 hatchery ponds on a total area of 50 acres. ‘The Group’ currently supplies fish and fish products to local markets in Selangor, KL, Perak, Melaka and Johor as well as exporting to China, Hong Kong and Singapore. ‘The Group’s main products include, amongst others, seabass, red snapper, silver pomfret, grouper, king grouper and tiger grouper.

Lew Oon Yew, the Head of Private Equity, KFH Asset Management Sdn Bhd, stated that, “The demand for marine farm-cultured seafood has been growing steadily especially in the region due to the depletion of sea catches, higher income growth and health awareness. Malaysia has natural competitive-advantage to further grow the sector due to its rich coast line, weather conditions as well as accommodative agricultural policies.

Our immediate focus is to develop the core marketing and distribution network so as to expand ‘the Group’s market reach, to provide better services and product consistency. This will be complemented with downstream expansion into processing through organic expansion, acquisition or joint-ventures. In order to ensure that the seafood livestock are sustainably cultured, ‘the Group’ has expanded upstream into developing the hatchery and production of feedstock. These initiatives will give ‘the Group’ better control over the value chain and consequently, assurance on freshness and quality of its seafood products. As an on-going plan, ‘the Group’ will also continue to expand its capacity in-line with the growing demand for marine seafood both locally and in export markets.”

As an Islamic private equity fund, Al Faiz Fund I invests strictly in accordance to Shariah principles and values. It offers the advantage of an ethical investment product with high performance, portfolio diversification, superior risk-adjusted returns and diverse investment opportunities.

Launched on March 5, 2008, Al Faiz Fund 1 focuses on medium-sized businesses, with sales of around USD10 million (MYR33.8 million) to USD 100 million (MYR338.1 million) per annum, in resilient industries such as education, healthcare, food and beverage, light manufacturing, retail and distribution, consumer products as well as environmental management. The Fund has managed to attract some of the largest institutional and high net worth individual investors from the Gulf and Asia.

To date seven investments have been completed in Asia by Al Faiz Fund I.
• Srivinasa Cardiology Center in India
• SI Consolidated in Singapore
• Radlink Asia in Singapore
• Hospitech Marketing & Manufacturing in Malaysia
• United More in Malaysia
• CN-NL Waste Solution in China
• Roasters (Kenny Rogers) in Philippines