Sime Darby Plantation unit completes purchase of Papua New Guinea coconut oil exporter

KUALA LUMPUR: Sime Darby Plantation Bhd’s (SDP) wholly owned subsidiary New Britain Palm Oil Ltd (NBPOL) has completed the US$52.6 million (RM215.6 million) acquisition of Markham Farming Co Ltd (MFCL) from Markham Agro Pte Ltd (MAPL).
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, SDP said NBPOL has assumed the net debt of MFCL and MAPL of US$11 million. MFCL is now indirectly fully owned by SDP.
“The final purchase consideration and the eventual total cash outlay to be paid by NBPOL will be subject to the findings of a post-completion audit,” it said.
MFCL is a private limited company incorporated in Papua New Guinea and owns 6,110ha of agriculture land in Markham Valley in Papua New Guinea comprising two estates. The total plantable area is about 5,713ha, of which 4,018ha has been planted with oil palm.
MFCL also operates two copra mills in Papua New Guinea with a combined throughput capacity of 55,000 tonnes a year.
“MFCL is the largest coconut oil exporter in Papua New Guinea and the acquisition enables SDP/NBPOL to expand its lauric oils business into coconut oil production,” said SDP.