TDM buys 42.64% stake in Ladang Rakyat Trengganu

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KUALA TERENGGANU:  Mid-sized plantation player TDM Bhd, is planning to acquire a 42.64% stake in Ladang Rakyat Trengganu Sdn Bhd that will see the company boost its total planted oil palm area in Trengganu from 31,848ha to 43,315ha.

At present, the RM1.1bil market value TDM has 44,493ha, of which 31,848ha are in Terengganu and 12,645ha in Kalimantan, Indonesia.

The proposed acquisition will increase its shareholdings in Ladang Rakyat from 19.12% to 61.76%.

Shares in TDM was suspended from 2.30pm onwards till 5pm today pending the announcement by the company.

It rose 5 sen or 0.69 per cent to 73 sen at about 2.30pm.

TDM inked a heads of agreement (HOA) this afternoon with its holding company Terengganu Inc Sdn Bhd to acquire the stake.

Terengganu Inc currently holds 61.15% in TDM. The second largest shareholder is Kumpulan Wang Persaraan or Retirement Inc with 9.11% .

Ladang Rakyat, a brown field plantation in Terengganu has a planted oil palm plantation area of 11, 467ha with an average tree age profile of 9 years.

Group managing director Datuk Mohamat Muda said TDM is pleased with the opportunity as it is a step in the right direction to improve operational efficiencies and presents significant synergistic opportunities for the group.

“By having a larger plantation area in Terengganu, we would be able to achieve economies of scale in plantation management,” said Mohamat at the launch of TDM’s Transformation Model this afternoon.
 
The event was officially launched by Terengganu Mentri besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman.

Mohamat came on board as the managing director on Jan 5, 2017. He was formerly the director general of Risda Malaysia.

Mohamat said TDM was RSPO certified since 2014, which has enabled the company to enjoy better premium from the sale of crude palm oil.

Going forward, Mohamat said it intends to achieve RSPO certification for Ladang Rakyat’s plantation.

“By doing so, we will benefit from higher selling prices and improved earnings,” he added.

For the financial year ended Dec 31, 2015, Ladang Rakyat reported profit after tax and minority interest of RM4.1mil on the back of RM194.3mil in revenue.