Kuala lumpur: Shares of Malton Bhd soared nearly 30 percent in early trading today following its announcement of a strategic plan to partner with a United States-based NVIDIA cloud partner for the establishment of artificial intelligence (AI) compute centres in Malaysia. At 10:30 am, the share price increased by seven sen to 33 sen, with 13.68 million shares traded, positioning it among the most actively traded stocks on Bursa Malaysia.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Malton Bhd disclosed in a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday that it has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Ricloud AI Inc. This collaboration aims to promote Ricloud's services within Malaysia and subsequently expand into Southeast Asian markets. Ricloud is recognized as a certified NVIDIA cloud partner, offering advanced AI cloud infrastructure and access to cutting-edge NVIDIA technologies.

The proposed partnership outlines Ricloud's responsibility to engage global technology companies to invest in the AI compute centres, alongside providing technical expertise, AI server procurement, and NVIDIA GPU clusters. Malton's role will focus on identifying suitable locations, securing regulatory approvals, and serving as the primary contractor for the facilities' construction and commissioning.

Malton emphasized that this collaboration presents an opportunity for the group to engage in the increasing demand for cloud computing and AI-related data centres. However, the MoU remains non-binding and does not immediately impact the company's share capital, earnings, net assets, or gearing.

The initial duration of the collaboration is set for 12 months or until a definitive agreement is reached, as stated in the filing.