Capital A is selling a majority stake in its 99.56%-owned financial technology arm, BigPay, to an undisclosed “very big” regional bank, according to its CEO, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes.
Fernandes, who highlighted that BigPay remains the only loss-making entity among Capital A’s non-aviation businesses, stated that the decision to sell the company was driven by capital requirements.
“It’s a good product, it just hasn’t had enough capital. So we’ve decided to sell the majority of BigPay to a very big regional bank – we’re in negotiations. It’s not just the regional bank, there are some big regional fintech players and global players that are looking at it,”
he said during an exclusive webinar on March 12 hosted by Rakuten Trade.
“We would like to keep 30% [stake],”
he added.
The move comes amid a reported mass exodus of top executives from BigPay.
Sources close to the matter revealed that several key leaders, including CEO Zubin Rada Krishnan, COO Mitherpal Sidhu, Chief Growth and Commercial Officer Chris Manguera, and Chief of Staff and Head of Strategy Meirisha Berisdha, have tendered their resignations.
The company had already seen all three of its co-founders – Salim Dhanani, Chris Davison, and Navin Rajagopalan – exit at different times, with Salim being the latest to leave in 2023.
Last month, Fernandes told The Edge that Capital A was seeking a partner to acquire a stake in and lead BigPay, following “tough” management challenges within the company.
“Really, we need a partner [for BigPay]. We’ve built a great programme. We’re going to be looking for a major partner to take this [forward]. We want to keep a stake in it, but it’s not something we are going to drive going forward,”
he was quoted as saying.
As of the end of 2024, BigPay had over 1.6 million cardholders, an increase from 1.5 million at the end of 2023, according to Capital A’s latest operating statistics.
Looking ahead, Fernandes said the company is also exploring opportunities to introduce BNPL services for travel while offering digital banking solutions to financial institutions across ASEAN, leveraging its extensive customer base.
“We’re a very attractive target. For me, it’s about focus. I’d rather concentrate on our top three businesses — Asia Digital Engineering, Teleport, and AirAsia Move. We hope to continue growing Santan and ABC International, while retaining a small stake in BigPay,”big
he said.
Shares of Capital A, which recently secured approval from Bursa Malaysia for its regularisation plan to exit Practice Note 17 status, closed one sen or 1.28% higher at 79 sen on Wednesday, giving the company a market capitalisation of RM3.42 billion.
Featured image credit: edited from freepik
