Sungkai Holdings, a subsidiary of MP Evans to acquire Sunrich Plantations for $88m.

Sungkai Holdings, a subsidiary of MPE, has signed a sale-and-purchase agreement to acquire Sunrich Plantations, which owns 95% of an Indonesian company, PT Bumi Mas Agro, which in turn owns an oil-palm plantation in Indonesia. Company is being acquired from two individuals, FR Limus, a Malaysian resident, and N Vrajilal, a Singapore resident, and a privately-held Singapore company, Tishros. The deal value is $88m and will be financed in​ cash. The land to be acquired by Sungkai comprises 8k hectares. Of this area, 7.4k hectares are young oil palms, planted mainly in 2012-16, and a further 400 hectares are in the course of being planted. Soil conditions, vegetation, terrain, ​and climate are highly suitable for oil-palm development. Purchaser expects, given the young age of its palms, that BMA's crop from Group and smallholder areas should grow steadily from the point of acquisition to exceed 270k tonnes of f.f.b. per annum within ten years. "The acquisition of BMA marks another important step in the Group's strategy to expand the plantation hectarage under its control. MP Evans will bring its operating expertise to bear on this new acquisition, whose young palms can be expected to produce strong crop growth in the coming years. Crop growth underpins the Group's ambition to produce increasing volumes of crude palm oil and palm kernels at attractive margins." Peter Hadsley-Chaplin, Chairman of MPE.