Singapore-Based Ikhlas Capital Closes $370 Mn Second Fund With Broader ASEAN Backing
The real test is whether the founders’ banking and government relationships across ASEAN can convert into cross-border growth for portfolio companies.
Ikhlas Capital
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Ikhlas Capital, a Singapore-based private equity firm, has reached a final close of $370 Mn for its second fund, bringing together a larger group of ASEAN investors keen to help local businesses expand across the region.
Its backers include sovereign wealth funds and family offices from Thailand, Malaysia and Brunei, according to DealStreetAsia. Its first fund secured about $230 Mn in limited partner commitments.
The $370 Mn figure was public even before the final close in September. Ikhlas chairman Nazir Razak disclosed it in a July interview while discussing the firm’s search for further investments in the Philippines. The latest development is the completed fundraising and a broader investor base than the firm assembled for its first vehicle.
That mix fits a manager whose investment rests on local relationships across ASEAN. Ikhlas has teams in Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and Manila, and Razak, a former chairman and chief executive of CIMB Group, set up the firm with chief executive Kenny Kim, former Indonesian trade minister Gita Wirjawan and Cesar Purisima, former secretary of trade and industry and finance in the Philippines.
Ikhlas lists consumer businesses, financial services, transport and logistics, and technology among its focus areas. Its proposition to companies is that capital, paired with relationships in several markets, can help them grow beyond their home country.
Its earlier investments show how widely it has interpreted that mandate. In the Philippines, Ikhlas put about $18 Mn into cold chain logistics operator Glacier Megafridge in 2020 and later invested $21 Mn in Bank of Commerce, a Philippine bank affiliated with Ramon Ang’s San Miguel Corp. The firm’s first fund backed at least eight investments across the region, according to The Philippine Star.
In Malaysia, Ikhlas invested RM74 Mn for a significant minority stake in PMG Healthcare in 2025. The Sarawak-based company operates pharmacies and medical and dental clinics. The deal added primary healthcare to a portfolio that already spanned logistics and banking.
Razak said in July that Ikhlas was looking for more opportunities in the Philippines, including partnerships with conglomerates. He also pointed to the country’s push to develop artificial intelligence (AI) as an area the firm was exploring.
The larger fund gives Ikhlas more capital to pursue such opportunities. Its investment decisions ahead will show whether the regional reach that helped it attract a wider set of backers can also produce businesses able to grow across ASEAN’s distinct markets.
Ikhlas Capital, a Singapore-based private equity firm, has reached a final close of $370 Mn for its second fund, bringing together a larger group of ASEAN investors keen to help local businesses expand across the region.
Its backers include sovereign wealth funds and family offices from Thailand, Malaysia and Brunei, according to DealStreetAsia. Its first fund secured about $230 Mn in limited partner commitments.
The $370 Mn figure was public even before the final close in September. Ikhlas chairman Nazir Razak disclosed it in a July interview while discussing the firm’s search for further investments in the Philippines. The latest development is the completed fundraising and a broader investor base than the firm assembled for its first vehicle.
