AEON Credit Service (M) Berhad entered into a shareholders’ agreement with AEON Financial Service Co., Ltd to undertake a digital Islamic banking business through ACS Digital Berhad, which is preparing to be licensed as a digital Islamic bank to carry on digital Islamic banking under the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013 (IFSA).
The group will also subscribe to 175 million ordinary shares in ACSD for a total subscription price of RM175 million at RM1.00 per ACSD Share.
The total investment outlay and eventual share capital for the ACSD are estimated to be RM550 million during the foundational phase of up to five years from the commencement of the digital Islamic digital banking business. To comply with the equity condition imposed by the Minister of Finance, it is envisaged that the eventual equity structure in the ACSD would be AEON Credit (35%), AFS (35%) and the Malaysian shareholder(s) (30%). The equity interest of the respective parties shall only be finalised within a period of 5 years from the commencement of the business and operations of the digital Islamic bank, i.e. by 7 April 2029.
Daisuke Maeda, Managing Director of AEON Credit said “We are directing our energies to the creation of a thriving AEON Living Zone, our ecosystem that provides seamless and one- stop solution by embedding multiple services & products including retails, financing, banking, insurance and entertainments. The integration of our digital Islamic banking business onto the AEON Living Zone will enable us to meet customer lifecycle needs and expand our membership base for cross-selling activities which will drive transaction volume and market share for all our businesses.”
On the other hand, AEON Credit has also announced a proposed bonus issue of 255,307,690 new ordinary shares in AEON Credit on the basis of 1 bonus share for every 1 AEON Credit share held by the shareholders of the Company whose names appear in the Record of Depositors of the Company on an entitlement date to be determined and announced later.
“The Proposed Bonus Issue is to reward the existing shareholders of AEON Credit for their continued support by allowing them to participate more in the equity of the Company in terms of the number of AEON Credit Shares held with no cash outlay by them, whilst maintaining their percentage equity interest in the Company.”
