June 11, 2010 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's Carsons group has brought all its South East Asian oil palm plantations under its Singapore subsidiary with the transfer of stakes in Indonesian and Malaysian units, a stock exchange filing said.
The move is part of a restructuring of the Carson Cumberbatch group to create an integrated plantations firm with a bigger asset base and greater bargaining power.
Carsons controls palm oil estates in Indonesia and Malaysia through Goodhope Asia Holdings (GAHL), a fully-owned subsidiary incorporated in Singapore as the holding company for the group's plantations sector.
Carsons unit Bukit Darah has transferred a 70 percent stake in PT Agro Bukit (PTAB), an Indonesian firm, along with a shareholder advance given by Bukit Darah to PTAB to Goodhope Asia Holdings.
Also transferred was a 13.33 percent stake held by Bukit Darah in Shalimar Developments of Malaysia to GAHL.
The transfers were valued at 49.9 million US dollars in return for which Bukit Darah will be allotted 40 percent of the shares of Good Hope Asia Holdings through an asset swap arrangement, Carsons Management Services said in a statement on behalf of Bukit Darah.
An extraordinary general meeting is to be called to seek shareholder approval for the transfer.
"Upon completion of the transfers, the entirety of the Carsons' group plantation sector assets and the land bank will come directly under GAHL, which will undertake all future plantation sector investments as the regional plantation sector holding entity," the statement said.
"With the transfer of the assets the plantations land bank and the asset base of GAHL will increase thereby enabling it to further expand leveraging on the strength of a higher combined asset base.
"Further, value creation to the shareholders of GAHL will accrue through enhanced bargaining power with financiers as well as customers and suppliers and through integration with the industry value chain."
Carsons has previously said that the revamp will enable the group to establish a "stronger presence in the palm oil industry in its home base in south east Asia."
It has noted that the major industry players in the oil palm industry are based in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.
The plantation business of Carsons covers an extent under cultivation of 80,000 hectares and crude palm oil processing capacity of 270 metric tonnes an hour.
source - www.lbo.lk
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