KUALA LUMPUR: Kulim (Malaysia) Berhad (Kulim) will dispose of its investment property, Menara Ansar in Johor Bahru, for RM105 million to the  Al-‘Aqar REIT.

The 21-storey Menara Ansar occupies 9,739 square meters of freehold land. To date, it has an occupancy rate of 92%.

Kulim managing director Ahamad Mohamad said on Tuesday, March 9 the divestment will be satisfied part cash where it will receive RM63 million.

The remainder will be via the issuance of 42.9 million new units of Al-‘Aqar KPJ Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) at 98 sen per unit.

“The group opted to dispose our investment in Menara Ansar as it would allow us to unlock the value of our non-core asset as well as realise our investment in the property.

“The divestment would also allow us to utilise the proceeds for repayment of borrowing, which currently stands at RM1.70 billion and lower our gearing from 0.33 times to 0.32 times,” he  added.

Ahamad said it would be a good investment for Kulim which has, over the past two years, been providing dividends to its shareholders – 8.1 sen in 2008 and 7.32 sen the year before.

Al-‘Aqar REIT is the world’s first listed Islamic REIT and Asia’s first healthcare REIT. As at Dec 31, 2009 Al-‘Aqar REIT, which owns and invests in Syariah-compliant healthcare related real estate, has an existing fund size of 518.37 million units while current assets totaled RM49.81 million and real estate portfolio at RM961.50 million.