KUALA LUMPUR — TNG Digital Sdn Bhd, the operator of Touch ’n Go eWallet, reportedly has no immediate plans to pursue an initial public offering (IPO), despite already worth as much as a unicorn startup.

Parent company CIMB Bank Bhd’s chief executive officer Gurdip Singh Sidhu was quoted saying the company would continue to assess the possibility of an IPO but was not in a hurry to list.

“The question of IPO is something we will always assess, but it’s not something we are rushing into,” he was quoted saying by The Edge Malaysia.

“At this point, the business is growing very well. We have started making profit after a few years of the incubation period,” he reportedly added.

Bloomberg also quoted him saying that he is confident that TNG “already qualifies” as a unicorn.

A unicorn is defined as a private startup that is valued at over US$1 billion (RM4.8 billion), with online used car trading platform Carsome remaining the country’s only one.

This comes as Reuters previously reported that TNG Digital could go public within two to three years and raise US$300 million (RM1.27 billion).

TNG Digital currently serves around 23 million verified users, nearly covering the entire adult population in Malaysia, according to Gurdip.

He also expressed confidence that the company will achieve unicorn status by 2030 in line with the government’s ambitions.

Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan earlier said in the same event that the government aims to identify five unicorns by 2030.

This was a pivot from the previous stance taken by former economy minister Datuk Rafizi Ramli, who wanted the country to move from just producing unicorns into becoming the world's top 20 startup hub by 2030 up from the current top 50.

TNG Digital is 45.01 per cent-owned by Touch ’n Go Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned unit of CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, while other shareholders include Antfin Singapore Holding Pte Ltd, Alipay Singapore Holdings Pte Ltd, Lazadapay Holdings Pte Ltd, AIA Bhd and ASP Malaysia LP.