Business
Proposed Acquisition
Proposed Acquisition.
About this update from Panther Metals Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n \nRNS Number : 9595M Asian Plantations Limited 25 August 2011 \n \n\n25 August 2011\n \n \nAsian Plantations Limited\n(\"APL\" or the \"Company\")\n \nProposed Acquisition\n \n \nAsian Plantations Limited (LSE: PALM), a palm oil plantation company with operations in Malaysia, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a conditional agreement to acquire 5,000 hectares of semi-developed plantation land (the \"Dulit Estate\") in Sarawak, Malaysia (the \"Proposed Acquisition\"). The Dulit Estate, which shares a common border with the Company's Incosetia Estate, is comprised of a planted area of 2,543 hectares with palms which are approximately 3 to 5 years old and are harvested daily, with the remainder unplanted. It is expected that the Dulit Estate will produce in excess of 22,000 tonnes of fresh fruit bunches (\"FFB\") in 2012, with a current market sale value in excess of RM 14.3 million (US$4.8 million). \n \nThe total maximum consideration for the Proposed Acquisition, which is subject to, inter alia, certain regulatory conditions and potential purchase price adjustments, is RM 102.0 million (US$34.4 million), of which RM 2.0 million (US$0.7 million) has been set aside for community and social investments, as part of the Company's ongoing efforts to ensure social inclusion consistent with its eventual objective of official RSPO certification. The remaining RM 100 million (US$33.7 million) is payable in three tranches:\n \n· a refundable deposit of RM 0.5 million (US$0.2 million), which has been paid;\n \n· RM 89.5 million (US$30.1 million), payable in cash at the time of completion; and\n \n· a further sum of up to RM 10.0 million (US$3.4 million), payable subject to a third party verification of the unplanted area. \n \nAssuming a conservative market value of approximately RM 9,000 (c. US$3,000) per hectare for the unplanted land in the Dulit Estate, the purchase price per planted hectare is approximately RM 31,400 (US$10,600), which the board of APL (the \"Board\") believes represents a substantial discount to recently transacted, planted parcels in the East Malaysian market. \n \nThe consideration is to be funded with RM 71.4 million (US$24.1...