KUALA LUMPUR (April 14): AmFIRST Real Estate Investment Trust (AmFIRST REIT) has confirmed that it is acquiring a Mydin store in Bukit Mertajam, Penang, confirming a report in The Edge Financial Daily published today.

The trust sent out media invites earlier this afternoon to a signing ceremony that will be held at 5pm tomorrow for the proposed acquisition, which will be held at the Berjaya Times Square Hotel and Convention Centre here.

Separately, in a filing with Bursa Malaysia this evening, Am ARA REIT Managers Sdn Bhd, the manager of the trust, said it is finalising the terms and conditions of the acquisition of the Mydin Store in Penang with the vendor.

“Appropriate announcement to Bursa Malaysia will be made in accordance with the listing requirements, as and when required,” it added.

The store, which is at the tail-end of construction and is expected to commence operations as a wholesale hypermarket in the third quarter of this year, according to the daily's report, is owned by multi-format retailer Mydin Mohamed Holdings Bhd. 

The daily also reported that the acquisition was expected to cost AmFIRST REIT (fundamental: 0.6; valuation: 2.7) an estimated RM250 million. It would be the trust's first investment in the north.

Quoting a source, the daily said the purchase is a move by AmFirst REIT to balance its portfolio of commercial assets, which is made up predominantly of office space.

“AmFIRST REIT may look for other similar deals,” the source said in reference to the retail store.

AmFIRST closed unchanged at 94 sen today, which gives it a market capitalisation of RM645.22 million.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)