MALAYSIAN tycoon Francis Yeoh has just completed a $285 million acquisition that will give his firm a listed presence here as well as access to two prime Orchard Road properties. The deal, which the managing director described as being made at the 'right price', involves buying a stake in Macquarie Prime Reit (MP Reit).

YTL Corporation will acquire from Macquarie Bank a 26 per cent stake in MP Reit and a 50 per cent stake in the holding company for the Reit's manager and the Reit's property manager. It will pay cash for 247.1 million units of MP Reit at 82 cents each.

This is a huge discount of 49 per cent to the Reit's net asset value per unit and reflects new valuations in light of the financial crisis.This gives YTL - one of the Malaysia's largest listed companies - an attractive 2009 yield of about 9.4 per cent.

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