No-frills airline AirAsia today named three foreign partners who will inject US$26 million to enable the profit-making carrier to expand regionally.

The investors are the Bahrain-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Gulf-linked Crescent Venture Partners and Deucalion Capital, a Frankfurt-based global private equity fund, the airline said in a statement.

The new partners invested in AirAsia at a valuation of US$100 million, and IDB now holds 10 percent, Crescent nine percent and Deucalion seven percent.