Moody's Buys Minority Stake in Malaysian Rating Corporation

Moody’s MCO has acquired a minority stake in Malaysian Rating Corporation Berhad (MARC). This will fortify the company’s presence in the Malaysian market.

The Kuala Lumpur-based Malaysian Rating Corporation provides credit rating services covering corporates and financial institutions, with major strength in infrastructure and project finance. It also provides economic and fixed-income research, credit risk solutions, sustainability-linked offerings and finance-oriented online training programs.

The move will strengthen Moody’s position in Islamic finance as Malaysia has positioned itself as a global hub of the same.  Malaysian Rating Corporation is a leader in this space, and has rated the largest corporate sukuk issuance and other noteworthy sukuks. Further, the country is the region’s biggest domestic corporate bond market, which is likely to bode well for the company.

Wendy Cheong, managing director and head of Moody’s Investors Service Asia Pacific, said "Malaysia’s robust domestic bond market presents an attractive opportunity for Moody’s, and we are excited to build upon our partnership with MARC and its growing portfolio of ratings and services."

Datuk Jamaludin Nasir, group chief executive officer of Malaysian Rating Corporation said, "This strategic partnership with Moody’s deepens MARC’s commitment to the sustainable development of Malaysia’s capital markets."

Moody’s investment in Malaysian Rating Corporation is in line with its cross-border ratings and research coverage in Malaysia, along with its market outreach activities. The deal has been funded with cash on hand and is unlikely to have any material impact on the company’s results for the year.

Notably, Malaysian Rating Corporation will remain separate from Moody’s Investor Services and continue functioning as an independent entity.

Moody’s has been growing meaningfully for the past several years through strategic acquisitions, which provided it with increased scale and cross-selling opportunities. This year, the company acquired Regulatory DataCorp and London-based RBA International.

Shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have appreciated 28.8% over the past year, while its industry has declined 9.1%.

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