TIDMPALM 
 
RNS Number : 1374E 
Asian Plantations Limited 
15 December 2009 
 

 
 
Asian Plantations Limited 
("APL" or the "Company") 
 
 
Acquisition 
 
 
 
 
Asian Plantations Limited (LSE: PALM), a palm oil plantation company with 
operations in Malaysia, which was admitted to trading on AIM in November 2009, 
is pleased to announce that it has entered into a conditional agreement to 
acquire the entire issued share capital of Jubilant Paradise Sdn Bhd 
("Jubilant") and Incosetia Sdn Bhd ("Incosetia") (the "Jubilant Group"), which 
owns a partly developed palm oil plantation totalling approximately 5,850 
hectares in Sarawak, Malaysia (the "Incosetia Estate") (the "Proposed 
Acquisition"). 
 
 
The total consideration for the Proposed Acquisition, which is subject to 
certain conditions including receipt of regulatory approvals, is RM68 million 
(circa. GBP12.4 million), payable in three tranches. An initial tranche of 
RM14.3 million (GBP2.6 million) is payable immediately, with a further tranche 
of RM 7.3 million (GBP1.3 million) to be paid by 30 December 2009, and the 
balance payable on completion, which is expected to take place no later than 31 
January 2010. In the event that any of the conditions referred to above, each of 
which are customary for a transaction of this nature, are not met and the 
Proposed Acquisition does not complete, the Company will be entitled to seek 
full recourse in respect of all previous consideration paid. The total purchase 
price per hectare is approximately RM11,600 (circa. GBP2,116). The consideration 
is to be funded as to RM55 million (circa. GBP10 million) from a new debt 
facility, provided by a local bank in Malaysia, and RM13 million (circa. GBP2.4 
million) from the GBP5.2 million of new equity capital raised at the time of the 
Company's admission to trading on AIM in November 2009. The Proposed Acquisition 
will be free of the Jubilant Group's existing liabilities. 
 
 
The Incosetia Estate is less than five kilometres from APL's existing palm oil 
plantation and consists of 1,000 hectares of planted land, with palms of 
approximately three years of age. In respect of the unplanted land, nursery 
operations are expected to commence in the first quarter of 2010, thereby 
enabling in-the-ground planting on the remaining 4,850 hectares to occur within 
12 months of completion of the Proposed Acquisition, subject to the availability 
of sufficient working capital. 
 
 
The audited accounts of Incosetia for the year ended 31 December 2008, which 
have been prepared under Malaysian GAAP, showed revenues of RM155,752 (circa. 
GBP28,421) and net losses of RM750,347 (circa. GBP136,924). Gross assets were 
RM48.9 million (circa. GBP8.92 million). Jubilant is a holding company with no 
significant assets, which has recently entered into an agreement to acquire 
Incosetia. The acquisition of Incosetia by Jubilant is conditional upon and will 
occur simultaneously with, the completion of the Proposed Acquisition. 
The directors believe that the Proposed Acquisition offers numerous strategic 
benefits to APL, including: 
 
 
  *  increasing the scale of the Company's existing operations to approximately 
  10,635 hectares of plantation land, of which a combined 3,000 hectares is fully 
  planted, in line with the Company's previously stated objectives of exceeding 
  20,000 hectares within two years of admission to trading on AIM. This planted 
  land and the land available for further expansion provides a strong platform for 
  future revenue generation; 
 
  *  allowing revenue generation to take place immediately after completion of the 
  Proposed Acquisition; 
 
  *  providing the Company with the scale to meaningfully investigate the design, 
  planning and approval for a next-generation vertical sterilizer milling system, 
  which generally requires fresh fruit bunch output from at least 10,000 hectares 
  of planted land for maximum profitability, efficiency and sustainability; and 
 
  *  benefiting from an attractive implicit valuation of the Incosetia Estate, 
  relative to other publicly announced land transactions in East Malaysia, at a 
  time of increasing agricultural land scarcity in Malaysia. 
 
 
 
After completion of the Proposed Acquisition, the Company will also immediately 
extend its community outreach initiative to the surrounding small villages 
located outside the boundaries of the Incosetia Estate. These on-going 
initiatives include clean water systems, employment opportunities and subsidised 
palm oil seedlings. 
 
 
Graeme Brown, APL's Joint Chief Executive Officer, commenting on the Proposed 
Acquisition, said: 
 
 
"We are excited to have secured this new parcel of land, which has tremendous 
operational synergies with our existing estate operations and which are located 
in close proximity to one another. Through our long standing local relationships 
and on-the-ground presence, we were able to secure the parcel in a negotiated, 
non-competitive situation, which demonstrates our ability to source acquisition 
opportunities for the Company, as well as securing attractive local currency 
bank financing, which we believe creates long term shareholder value." 
 
 
 
 
For further information contact: 
 
 
+---------------------------------------+--------------------------------+ 
| Asian Plantations Limited             |             Tel: +65 9878 4171 | 
| Dennis Melka, Joint Chief Executive   |            Tel: +60 19 8660221 | 
| Officer                               |                                | 
| Graeme Brown, Joint Chief Executive   |                                | 
| Officer                               |                                | 
|                                       |                                | 
+---------------------------------------+--------------------------------+ 
| Strand Hanson Limited                 |       Tel: +44 (0)20 7409 3494 | 
| James Harris                          |                                | 
| Angela Peace                          |                                | 
| Paul Cocker                           |                                | 
|                                       |                                | 
+---------------------------------------+--------------------------------+ 
| Mirabaud Securities LLP               |       Tel: +44 (0)20 7878 3360 | 
| Rory Scott                            |                                | 
|                                       |                                | 
+---------------------------------------+--------------------------------+ 
| Bankside Consultants                  |       Tel: +44 (0)20 7367 8871 | 
| Simon Rothschild                      |       Tel: +44 (0)20 7367 8874 | 
| Oliver Winters                        |                                | 
|                                       |                                | 
+---------------------------------------+--------------------------------+ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This information is provided by RNS 
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange 
   END 
 
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