KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 23): DutaLand Bhd climbed some 9 sen or 17.82% to a 2-year high of 59.5 sen per share in active trade today after the group announced yesterday that it would be disposing of close to 11,600 hectares of land to Boustead Plantations Bhd.

The counter saw some 21.25 million shares traded as at 2.10pm. Its share price has climbed some 38.37% since the start of the month.

Yesterday, DutaLand announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Pertama Land & Development Sdn Bhd, had received a letter of intent from Boustead Plantations to acquire the land for RM750 million.

The land, which comprises 42 parcels, is located in the districts of Labuk and Sugut in Sabah.

IOI Corp Bhd had in 2011 been in negotiations to acquire a slightly bigger plot of 11,978 hectares in the same area from DutaLand at a price of RM830 million.

However, the deal had fallen through after IOI withdrew, citing DutaLand's non-compliance with certain terms.