Total landbank grows to one million hectares and NBPOL will immediately contribute to profits

Kuala Lumpur, 2 March 2015 - Sime Darby Plantation (SDP), the plantation arm of Sime Darby Berhad, has completed the acquisition of New Britain Palm Oil Limited (NBPOL) today, bringing it closer to meeting its expansion target.

The purchase of NBPOL adds another 135,000 hectares of land in Papua New Guinea, bringing SDP’s total land bank to almost one million hectares spread out in five countries.

“This is a historic day for Sime Darby. NBPOL was founded by Harrisons & Crosfield, the company that was part of a merger exercise that created the Sime Darby of today, the world’s biggest producer of certified sustainable palm oil. It is a family reunion of sorts,” said Sime Darby Berhad President and Group Chief Executive Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Mohd Bakke Salleh.

SDP will have five representatives on the board of NBPOL, namely Dato’ Henry Sackville Barlow, Dato’ Rashidi Che Omar, Encik Rosely Kusip, Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Mohd Bakke Salleh and Datuk Franki Anthony Dass. Dato’ Henry Sackville Barlow is set to be appointed chairman of the board.

They will replace the outgoing directors namely Mr Antonio Monteiro de Castro, Dato’ Kamaruzzaman Abu Kassim and Encik Ahamad Mohamad.

SDP will focus on integrating the operations of both companies over the next few months. NBPOL provides a strategic fit to SDP with its track record in sustainability as all of its production is certified sustainable. SDP is a founder member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil and together with NBPOL’s capacity, it can produce almost 26 per cent of the global CSPO output.

“As a well-managed company with an experienced management team, NBPOL will immediately contribute to the bottom line of SDP. We have been working on identifying the synergies and our immediate priority will be to unlock value from these synergies,” said Datuk Franki Anthony Dass, Managing Director of SDP.

Apart from the expansion of its upstream business in Papua New Guinea, NBPOL provides the opportunity for SDP to grow its downstream operations in Europe. NBPOL’s Liverpool refinery will complement SDP’s refinery in the Netherlands. NBPOL already supplies to more than 110 customers in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

“NBPOL has a long standing commitment to sustainability, similar to SDP. This is a union of like-minded organisations and we’re excited to be part of the Sime Darby family,” said Nick Thompson, CEO of NBPOL.