KUALA LUMPUR (Apr 27): IJM Land Bhd, the property development arm of IJM Corp Bhd (fundamental: 1.1; valuation: 1.4), has teamed up with Singapore-based Perennial Real Estate Holdings Ltd (PREH) to acquire and develop a 32.76-acre parcel of freehold waterfront land in Gelugor, Penang into a large-scale integrated mixed-use development.

"Estimated to be completed in phases, starting from 2018, the total development cost for the project is estimated to be over RM3 billion," said IJM Land in a statement today.

IJM Land and PREH will form a joint venture (JV) company called Aura Hebat Sdn Bhd, in which each will have an effective 50% interest.

The JV will acquire the site from Jelutong Development Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of IJM Land.

IJM Land said it and PREH will fund the development of the project through a combination of internal funds, bank loans and sales proceeds from the sale of the residential and office components to optimise cash flow.

The proposed mixed-use development will feature retail, entertainment, recreational, residential, business, hospitality and meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) components.

"Spanning about 4.1 million sq ft in total gross floor area, the preliminary concept of the one-stop destination is expected to comprise a shopping mall and thematic shops (38%), residential towers (26%), an office tower (16%), two hotels (13% with over 750 rooms) and a convention centre (7%)," it added.

The integrated development will be complemented by the adjacent Phase 1 of The Light Waterfront Penang, a residential development which is being developed by IJM Land.

IJM Corp shares was traded down 0.14% at RM7.39, with a market capitalisation of RM13.15 billion as at 2.05pm.

(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.)