This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on August 3, 2016.

KUALA LUMPUR: Etika Group of Companies, which generated RM1.5 billion sales locally last year, has no plans to tap capital markets just yet.

Etika Group president and chief executive officer Erwin Selvarajah said the group is not considering a listing and will continue to be privately owned by its parent company, Asahi Group Holdings Ltd (Asahi Japan).

“We have no plans for [a] listing as we don’t see the need to do so, and the group will remain privately owned by Asahi Japan, which is listed on the Japanese stock exchange,” he told a news conference in conjunction with the formation announcement of Etika Group yesterday.

It is the merged entity of soft drink maker Permanis Sandilands Sdn Bhd and the dairy business of Etika International Holdings Ltd. 

The consolidation took place after the acquisition of Etika International’s dairy business for a reported RM1.1 billion in 2014, and of Permanis Sandilands in 2011 for a reported RM820 million.

Etika Group has expanded its footprint across key markets in Southeast Asia such as Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam. In Malaysia alone, the group’s 2015 full-year sales amounted to RM1.5 billion.

“That [RM1.5 billion] was our trending [sales] last year … this year, we are targeting to finish with a slightly higher [sales figure], probably a high single-digit growth for Malaysia,” he said, but declined to reveal an exact percentage.

He added that the group does not reveal its revenue figures for overseas markets, and shared that the Malaysian market is the group’s significant revenue growth driver.

“Over the next five years, we are looking at double-digit revenue growth for our Malaysian businesses, probably in the range of 30% to 40%,” said Selvarajah.

The group has exclusive rights to manufacture and distribute PepsiCo Inc’s global brands such as Pepsi, Sting, Evervess, Mirinda, 7Up, Revive Isotonic, Gatorade, Lipton Ice Tea, Mountain Dew and Tropicana.

These rights, along with sales offices and warehouses worldwide, and a broad distribution network now come under Etika’s wing. 

“Our market share in the retail ready-to-drink beverage market is around 25% [in Malaysia],” he said.

Recently, PepsiCo awarded Etika its franchise in Singapore, to commence on Nov 1.