Navis Capital Buys Stake in Malaysia’s Kinderdijk

Private equity firm Navis Capital Partners has acquired a stake in Malaysia’s Kinderdijk Group, a distributor and retailer of lifestyle and babycare products, Reuters reported. Kinderdijk distributes popular brands including Mattel/Fisher Price and MacLaren. Terms of the deal were not released. Malaysia-based Navis, which manages about $3 billion. The firm is currently investing out of the $76 million Malaysian Growth Opportunity Fund I.

(Reuters) – Private equity firm Navis Capital Partners said on Monday it has bought a stake in Malaysia’s Kinderdijk Group, a distributor and retailer of lifestyle and babycare products.

The investment is the first by Navis’ 230 million ringgit ($76 million) Malaysian Growth Opportunity Fund I.

“The lifestyle-product and baby-care segments in Malaysia are attractive and growing at two-to-three-times GDP growth, driven by the rising affluence of the middle-class and increasing consumerism,” Navis said in a statement.

It declined to say how much it invested in Kinderdijk, whose brands include Mattel/Fisher Price, MacLaren, Crocs and Fred Perry and Mom’s Care.

Kinderdijk was also recently appointed sole distributor and retailer for Wrangler jeans and casual wear in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.

Malaysia-based Navis, which manages about $3 billion in equity capital, focuses primarily on South and Southeast Asia. ($1 = 3.027 Malaysian Ringgit)

(Reporting by Kevin Lim)