Myanmar Investments Intl Ltd Planned Board change (1633C)

TIDMMIL

RNS Number : 1633C

Myanmar Investments Intl Ltd

18 January 2018

 
   18 January 2018 
 

Myanmar Investments International Limited

Planned Board change

Myanmar Investments International Limited [AIM: MIL] ("MIL" or the "Company"), the AIM-quoted, Myanmar focused investment company, today announces that Michael Dean has notified the Board of his intention to step down as Finance Director in due course. As such the Company will begin a search for a new Finance Director.

It is intended that Mr Dean will continue to serve as the Company's Finance Director until a replacement can be appointed. It is also anticipated that at the time Mr Dean does step down from his position as Finance Director that he will continue to serve as a Non-Executive Director and will assume the role of Chairman of the Audit Committee and continue to be a member of the Investment Committee.

William Knight, the Company's Chairman said "Mike co-founded the Company and his very considerable hands-on experience and know-how have been critical to the early stages of the Company's development. Transitioning to a non-executive role means that his on-going involvement with the Company will continue to be just as dynamic but it will mean that he will have greater independence from the day-to day management."

Aung Htun, the Company's Managing Director added "I am grateful to my co-founder for all his hard work which has got us to where we are today and am pleased that MIL will continue to have his active counsel as a member of the Investment and Audit Committees."

- Ends -

For further information please contact:

 
Aung Htun                           Michael Dean 
 Managing Director                   Finance Director 
 Myanmar Investments International   Myanmar Investments International 
 Ltd                                 Ltd 
 [phone]                   [phone] 
 [phone]                [phone] 
 [e-mail]     [e-mail] 
 
  Nominated Adviser                   Broker 
  Philip Secrett / Jamie              Andrew Pinder / David 
  Barklem/                            Herring 
  Carolyn Sansom                      Alistair Roberts (Hong 
  Grant Thornton UK LLP               Kong) 
  [phone]                Investec Bank plc 
                                      [phone] 
 

Notes to Editors:

Myanmar Investments International Limited (AIM: MIL) was the first Myanmar-focused investment company to be admitted to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange. MIL was established in 2013 with the intention of building long term shareholder value by proactively investing in a diversified portfolio of Myanmar businesses that will benefit from the country's re-emergence and ongoing economic development. The Company is led by an experienced and entrepreneurial team who between them have considerable industrial, corporate and financial management experience.

MIL aims to identify investments with strong growth which if necessary can be "de-risked" through the introduction of experienced senior line-management, mentors and / or strategic partners sourced by MIL's management board. The Company's main focus is on opportunities that are experiencing acute supply and demand imbalances, such as within the consumer and capacity-constrained sectors.

With its strong proprietary investment pipeline of deals, MIL provides investors with a highly disciplined and conservative investment process into one of the most promising growth opportunities of this era.

MIL's largest investment (US$21 million cost for a 9.3% shareholding) is in Apollo Towers, one of Myanmar's top telecom towers companies with 1,800 towers. Apollo operates in the high growth telecom sector with a strong management that is growing the number of co-locations (i.e. multiple tenancies) on its portfolio of towers. In June 2016, the US Government's Overseas Private Investment Corporation ("OPIC") provided a US$250 million debt facility to Apollo Towers.

MIL's first investment in August 2014 was into Myanmar Finance International Limited ("MFIL") which today is one of the top 10 microfinance companies in Myanmar. Since MIL invested, MFIL's business has expanded rapidly; its loan portfolio has a CAGR of 145% since investment. The business is profitable with zero NPLs and a sustainable expansion plan for long term growth. In November 2015, the Norwegian Government's Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries ("Norfund"), the Norwegian development finance institution, also became a 25% shareholder in MFIL.

In May 2017 MIL announced it had established a pharmacy, healthcare and personal care product franchise joint venture. It is expected that the business will fill a vacuum in the present retail landscape and at the same time tap into the rapid growth of the middle and affluent classes in Myanmar. The two joint venture partners are: a) an experienced retail group that runs over 55 pharmacy, health and beauty outlets in a neighbouring Asian country; and b) an industry veteran with significant experience leading Asian-based retail concepts.

MIL's latest investment in October 2017 was into the tourism sector. Together with two leading Myanmar tourism entrepreneurs (the "Myanmar Partners") it has established Myanmar Voyages Group Company Limited ("Myanmar Voyages") to invest into tourism-related assets in Myanmar.

Myanmar, a country of approximately 51.4 million people and roughly the size of France, has been isolated for much of the last 50 years. Once it was one of the more prosperous countries in Southeast Asia as it has an abundance of natural resources (oil, natural gas, arable land, tourist attractions and a long coastline), it is now one of the least developed countries in the world.

The country has undergone an unprecedented and peaceful transformational reform process, initiated by U Thein Sein's Administration in 2011. This is now continuing under the elected civilian administration led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi which came to power in April 2016 as a result of the first democratic elections in 50 years. While the process is still evolving, the new government has broad support and significant progress has been made to the economic prospects of the country.

In October 2016, the United States government lifted all remaining sanctions against Myanmar and re-admitted the country into its preferred tariff system.

For more information about MIL, please visit www.myanmarinvestments.com

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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January 18, 2018 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)