Ikea Malaysia will open its first store in the north at the end of next year, in Penang.

Ikano, which owns the franchise for the Swedish furniture giant for Malaysia as well as Singapore and Thailand, teamed up with Aspen Group to buy 99 ha of land in Batu Kawan from Penang Development Corporation to develop the Aspen Vision City (AVC), where the Ikea store will be located.

Ikano will hold a 20 per cent stake in AVC with Aspen holding the balance. The Ikea store will be wholly owned by Ikano.