Takeover complete

 By GYNNIE KERO

MALAYSIAN conglomerate Sime Darby yesterday announced it will now own more than 90 per cent of New Britain Palm Oil Ltd (NBPOL).

A conglomerate is a company that is made up of a number of different, seemingly unrelated businesses. 

In a market report yesterday, Sime Darby said it “has received valid acceptances of the offer in respect of 149,794,781 NBPOL shares, representing approximately 98.8 per cent as at the expiry date (Feb 23)”.

The £547 million (K2.14 billion) which the new investor offered for NBPOL shares last October was for a 51 per cent stake. Sime Darby’s offer is a 30 per cent premium over Kulim’s previous offer of £5.50 (K22.88) a share to NBPOL. 

Now with the 98.8 per cent shareholding, Sime Darby would fetch a higher price than £547 million.

The cash takeover offer followed Kulim’s announcement in past months with the intention to dispose its 48 per cent stake in NBPOL.

NBPOL chief executive Nick Thomson had welcomed the new partnership saying Papua New Guinea needs foreign investment particularly in the agriculture sector.

Now that the offer by Sime Darby was completed, NBPOL will delist the company from the London Stock Exchange but maintain the Port Moresby Stock Exchange listing.

“I see the team taking this business forward with a strong partner (Sime Darby) to do things bigger, better and faster than we (NBPOL) would have been able to do if we were on our own,” Thomson said.

During a visit to Port Moresby last October, Sime Darby Group president and chief executive Mohd Bakke Salleh said a key priority now is to formulate a strategy roadmap.

He said the takeover does not mean NBPOL management and human resource would be replaced.

Earlier in the month, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill welcomed Sime Darby’s acquisition of New Britain Palm Oil as a vote of confidence in the economy.

“This acquisition is major boost for our agriculture sector, and the economy,” O’Neill said.