Cargill Sells Interest in PNG Oil Palm Plantations

The buyer, New Britain Palm Oil (NBPOL) is the largest oil palm plantation owner and operator in PNG. All of NBPOL’s oil palm plantations are certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The CTP properties that NBPOL has agreed to buy also are in the process of earning RSPO certification.

24 Feb 2010 --- CTP Holdings, a Cargill majority owned company, has signed a sales agreement to sell its interest in oil palm plantations it owned and operated in Papua New Guinea to New Britain Palm Oil. The sale price for the PNG plantations is US$175 million plus certain adjustments for stocks and capital expenditure. The sales agreement covers only CTP’s oil palm assets in PNG. CTP Holdings continues to own and operate two oil palm plantations in Indonesia.
 
Cargill senior vice president Paul Conway stated, “The strategic decision to sell our PNG assets is to allow CTP to focus its resources on sustainably growing our Indonesian oil palm plantations. We believe there is more value for our shareholders and customers in focusing on Indonesia. Our PNG oil palm plantations are the only investment we have in PNG. Since no other Cargill business is actively investing in PNG at this time, we did not have any internal synergies to increase the value of this investment.”
 
New Britain Palm Oil (NBPOL) is the largest oil palm plantation owner and operator in PNG. All of NBPOL’s oil palm plantations are certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The CTP properties that NBPOL has agreed to buy also are in the process of earning RSPO certification.
 
“We are committed to being a major player in the global palm oil supply chain. We are currently working with small holders and sustainably developing degraded land in Indonesia to grow our origination capabilities. Combined with our global trading arm and refining capacity, we will be able to meet our customers’ palm oil products needs,” said Conway.
 
The sale is scheduled to close by end April. CTP Holdings bought the PNG properties in 2005 from the United Kingdom’s CDC Group plc.