CAPASIA INVESTS IN KAZAKHSTAN ELECTRICITY UTILITY

KUALA LUMPUR, April 25 (Bernama) -- CapAsia, a joint venture private equity
fund manager between CIMB Group and Standard Bank Group, today entered into a
participation agreement to provide US$50 million in equity capital to Central
Asian Power and Energy Company (CAPEC) in Kazakhstan.

CapAsia, a Singapore-based leading private equity fund manager, entered into
the agreement via its Islamic Infrastructure Fund (IIF), it said in a statement
Monday.

The IIF, managed by CapAsia, is a US$262 million private equity
infrastructure fund jointly sponsored by the Islamic Development Bank
and the Asian Development Bank.

Since its inception in 2006, CapAsia's assets under management grew to
approximately US$485 million and it currently employed 18 investment
professionals with over 90 years of private equity experience between them.

The firm has offices in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and Bangkok.

Its Chief Executive Officer, Dr Johan Bastin, said the investment was the
company's first in Central Asia.

"We see Kazakhstan as a primary market for IIF because of the government's
commitment to furthering private sector involvement in the provision and
financing of infrastructure," he was quoted in the statement.

Meanwhile, CAPEC Chairman Alexander Klebanov said IIF's equity investment in
the company was important for its development and had great significance for the
electricity sector in Kazakhstan.