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Sime Darby
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Sime Darby Berhad | |
|---|---|
| Type | Public |
| Founded | Established 1910 |
| Headquarters | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| Key people | Tun Musa bin Hitam (Chairman) Ahmad Zubir Bin Murshid (President & Group CEO) Razidan Ghazalli (Group CFO) |
| Industry | Plantation, Motors, Industrial, Property, Energy & Utlities |
| Revenue | 20.74 billion MYR June 2007 (  1.51 billion MYR) |
| Employees | Over 104,000 |
| Slogan | "Developing Sustainable Futures" |
| Website | www.simedarby.com |
Sime Darby (MYX: 4197) is currently a major company in Malaysia and one of South East Asia's largest conglomerates with involvement in over 20 countries. Sime Darby is listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad with a market capitalisation of approximately RM 66 billion as of 4 December 2007.
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(1979 – 2007)
Sime Darby, which was set up on October 17 in 1910 to manage 500 acres of plantations land in Malacca, takes its name from its two founders, William Middleton Sime, a Scottish adventurer and fortune seeker, and Henry Darby, an English banker.
The choice of Malacca for this enterprise was based on its accessibility by sea. Land transport by bullock carts in those days was slow. Malacca's hinterland was also where rubber was first planted on a commercial basis in the Peninsula. By 1910, the rubber boom had started and the best way to venture into the rubber trade was to buy up existing estate land whose trees were then in full yield.
A 37-year-old Scottish adventurer and fortune seeker. A colourful character with two failed ventures behind him – one in import-export business and the other, in coffee plantations. Undaunted, his entrepreneurial spirit saw him leaving his job as a merchantile assistant in Singapore to make his mark in Malacca.
A wealthy 50-year-old English banker who owned property in Northern Malaya. To raise money for the joint venture, Darby had to eventually sell off some of his land.
Dubbed in the late-seventies as the "Dawn Raid", the Malaysian Government through its state trading corporation, PERNAS, bought a number of Sime Darby shares in the London stock market and eventually emerged its most powerful shareholder. Just under half the equity in Sime Darby Holdings was acquired by Malaysian investors – mainly through the efforts of the PERNAS subsidiary, Tradewinds (M) Sdn Bhd – and in December 1979 with the incorporation of two new entities, Sime Darby Berhad (SDB) and Consolidated Plantations Berhad (CPB), Sime Darby was brought back to the Malaysian fold, with its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, as a Malaysian registered and managed concern, in line with the New Economic Policy. By 1983, the Malaysian equity stood at over 54 percent.
Founded in Singapore in 1821 by Alexander Guthrie, as the first British trading company in South East Asia. Guthrie introduced rubber and oil palm in Malaysia in 1896 and 1924 respectively.
In 1981, the group became a wholly Malaysian-owned company after former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad engineered a raid by Pemodalan Nasional Berhad to take over the group at the London Stock Exchange. The takeover allowed Malaysia to return ownership of some 200,000 acres (800 km²) of agricultural land back to Malaysians.
Guthrie Group was made a public company in 1987 and was subsequently listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) in 1989 in what was then the largest public issue in Malaysia.
Golden Hope Plantations Berhad (GHPB) is an estate and plantations company in Malaysia. It was established in 1844 under the name Harrison and Crossfield (H&C). Golden Hope Plantations Berhad has been in the plantation business for more than 160 years. It owes its humble beginnings to brothers Daniel and Smith Harrison and Joseph Crosfield who established a trading business dealing in tea and coffee in 1844 under the name Harrisons and Crosfield.
The group was renamed to GHPB in 1990 to reflect the change in management when Pemodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) took majority equity of the company. Its interests originally were in tropical agriculture but, while plantations have remained a core business interest, the company has diversified into other areas including glycerine manufacture, fruit juices and real estate. The group now has 83 subsidiaries based in seven countries. The main estate and plantations are Carey Island and Banting in Selangor.
In January 2007, the three Malaysian giants merged into the vehicle entity named Synergy Drive and on 27 November 2007, Synergy Drive was renamed Sime Darby Berhad. Thus begins a new era for three moving forward as one.
Sime Darby Berhad, the merged entity of three illustrious Malaysian corporations is a diversified Malaysian multinational with a combined workforce of 104,300 employees and a focused set of core businesses. These core businesses are plantations, property, motor, heavy equipment and energy & utilities which are expected to benefit from continued population growth and economic development within the Asia Pacific region and the global economy. Sime Darby's non-core business units such as healthcare, insurance, and home products are grouped under its Allied Products and Services division (APS). Subsidiaries under APS include Subang Jaya Medical Centre (healthcare), Sime Alexander Forbes (insurance), and Dunlopillo Malaysia Sdn Bhd (home products). It also has a controlling share in the major hypermarket chain Tesco in Malaysia. With more than 60% of Group’s revenue from abroad, Sime Darby stands as true to its legacy as a true multinational as reflected by its current market capitalization of RM66b as of 4 December 2007.
Following the merger, Sime Darby Berhad emerges as one of the world’s largest listed oil palm plantations group by planted land area. Whilst this will make it one of the global leaders in palm oil origination, i.e. plantation and palm oil extraction, which is presently the most profitable part of the palm oil value chain. Sime Darby Berhad also has a significant presence in downstream palm oil activities. Pulling from a combined experience of 400 years of three great legacies, Sime Darby is poised with the potential for more in the future.
The merger also provided an opportunity for Sime Darby Berhad to be Malaysia’s leading developer of quality residential and commercial communities. With core businesses in over 20 countries, Sime Darby Berhad will be a force to be reckoned with in driving the nation.
Having a foothold in diverse industries with exclusive Caterpillar rights in 12 countries worldwide and distributorship and dealership of well known motor marques such as BMW, the merger exercise has presented another façade of the group as Sime Darby Berhad continues to forge ahead. Under the guidance of Dato’ Seri Ahmad Zubir Murshid, Sime Darby Berhad has a mission to prove itself as much much more than merely a plantation company as demanded by purists and investors. Emerging as an important player through participation in oil and gas platforms and investments in port and water projects in China, the group is determined to win leadership positions in industries that the group immerses itself in and touches.
Sime Darby Berhad is committed towards developing sustainable futures for all its stakeholders. It holds itself accountable for the environmental and social impact of its business activities and is genuinely committed to deliver sustainable products and services. With “Developing Sustainable Futures” as its tag line, Sime Darby Berhad is poised to emerge as a leader of sustainable initiatives.