(Insider Stories) - State-owned securities house PT Mandiri Sekuritas will enter the Malaysian shariah bond market in partnership with RHB Bhd., seeking to capture demand from Malaysian investors for Indonesian Islamic corporate debt, a director says. The subsidiary of PT Bank Mandiri (IDX:BMRI) expects to bring ringgit-denominated sukuk issuances by two Indonesian companies to market this year.

"Malaysian investors show strong interest in investing in Indonesian companies after we obtain a [sovereign] investment grade rating. To capture their market we've signed an agreement with RHB to sell shariah bonds through the bank and then swap [the proceeds] to U.S. dollars," Mandiri Sekuritas Managing Director Iman Rachman told a media gathering today.

He said the deals ManSek plans to launch will be by Indonesian companies with at least AA- ratings.

CEO Abipriyadi Riyanto said that after entering Singapore and Malaysia the house is also looking at other regional markets where foreign investors have money to park in Indonesian assets.

This year, Mandiri Sekuritas expects to underwrite 10 IPOs and 20 bond issuances worth up to IDR12 trillion. In the first half, the house underwrote four IPOs with IDR750 billion total value, 16 bond issuances worth IDR6.3 trillion and four Medium Term Note (MTN) issuances totaling IDR500 billion.

In the second half, the company has been selected to underwrite four IPOs with total value IDR3.5 trillion, four bond issuances worth IDR4 trillion, four MTN sales worth IDR500 billion and to provide pre-advisory services for IPOs by subsidiaries of two state-owned companies expected to raise a total of IDR2 trillion.