by Meriba Tulo – EM TV, Port Moresby
Sime Darby Plantation, a subsidiary of Sime Darby Berhard, has completed its acquisition of New Britain Palm Oil Limited (NBPOL).
The purchase of NBPOL now brings Sime Darby Plantations, total worldwide land bank, to almost one million hectares – spread out in five countries.
A high-level delegation from both Sime Darby, and NBPOL, were in Port Moresby on Monday to mark day one of this new partnership.
The acquisition of NBPOL was described as a homecoming of sorts, with Harrisons & Crossfield, the company which established NBPOL, also a part of the merger which created Sime Darby.
According to Mohd Bakke Salleh, President and Group Chief Executive of Sime Darby, the acquisition of NBPOL now truly cements the position of Sime Darby as the world’s biggest producer of certified sustainable palm oil.
This, he says, is an exciting development for the Sime Darby Group.
The acquisition of NBPOL is worth to be around £1.7 billion which is around K5.7 billion.
Over the next few months, Sime Darby will be focusing on integrating the operations of both companies.
High on the agenda will be efforts by NBPOL and Sime Darby to continue its efforts in sustainability as part of its production.
Furthermore, apart from the expansion of its upstream business in Papua New Guinea, NBPOL now also provides the opportunity for Sime Darby Plantations to grow its downstream operations in Europe.
“NBPOL has a long standing commitment to sustainability, similar to Sime Darby Plantations. 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.
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