Is IPIC main investor of Yurus Private Equity, asks PKR

Opposition lawmaker Wong Chen wants 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and private equity firm DuSable Capital Management LLC to answer if Abu Dhabi's wealth fund, International Petroleum Investment Corporation (IPIC), was the main investor in the American firm's Yurus Private Equity Fund. PKR's Kelana Jaya MP also asked if the deal, reported by business daily The Wall Street Journal, was done on an arm's length basis. He also asked how much DuSable made from the deal. Citing sources, WSJ in its November 11 report said DuSable was founded in May 2013 by Frank White Jr, a member of US President Barack Obama's 2008 national finance committee, as well as the fundraiser for former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. Citing sources, the daily said not long after DuSable was founded, the company announced it had raised a US$505 million fund called Yurus Private Equity I, LP. One of Yurus's investors was Aabar Investments, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi's wealth fund IPIC, which has been linked to controversies surrounding 1MDB. Last week, Wong had asked Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to clarify whether a private equity fund had earned RM300 million for six months of paperwork in a deal linked to 1MDB. "If Yurus Private Equity made RM300 million from the deal, DuSable as manager could have profited a handsome RM60 million in fees for six months of work. "Most managers of private equity funds have a profit sharing arrangement of 80%-20% between the investor and manager. "If the sale was concluded at minimal costs, 20% of the share for DuSable would be around RM60 million," he said at a press conference at the Parliament lobby today. 1MDB's links to DuSable were first raised last month by Wong, who demanded that Najib, who is also finance minister and chairman of 1MDB's advisory board, provide the latest status of 1MDB's solar power plant project with DuSable in Kedah and the key conditions of the agreement. The question was related to a report in an English daily on the joint venture project last year, which said DuSable would be the investment adviser to a private equity fund in which 1MDB would be a limited partner. In a parliamentary written reply to Wong, Najib said 1MDB had never signed any joint venture agreement with DuSable. In a joint statement with DuSable, 1MDB said while the two entities had discussed working together to jointly develop a proposed 50MW solar power plant in Kedah, no definitive agreement was ever reached about the project or any other solar power projects. They said on April 11, 2014, 1MDB via its wholly-owned unit 1MDB Synergy Sdn Bhd, had entered into a master joint venture agreement with Yurus Private Equity to jointly develop up to 500MW of solar power plants in Malaysia. DuSable was appointed as investment adviser to the Yurus Private Equity and the master joint venture agreement shareholding was 49%-Yurus Equity, 51%-1MDB Synergy, the statement said. On April 12, 2014, 1MDB via its wholly-owned subsidiary 1MDB Solar Sdn Bhd (1MDB Solar), entered into a PPA with Tenaga Nasional Bhd for the construction of a 50MW solar power plant in Kedah. "It is important to highlight that Yurus Private Equity and DuSable were not and never were, signatories to this PPA, nor did either party, at any time, have ownership of 1MDB Solar," 1MDB had said. – November 17, 2015.