BARELY five months at the helm of FGV, Emir has meticulously expedited several major mergers and acquisitions (M&As) for the company. And judging by the speed of the recent M&As concluded and the proceeds from FGV’s initial public offering (IPO), Emir is set to prove his mettle again by another round of new M&As next year while improving the productivity and efficiency within the group.
FGV’s main theme next year is to zoom in on acquisitions of greenfield and brownfield landbanks as well as mills and refinery for oil palm, sugar and rubber in Indonesia, Cambodia and Myanmar for the group’s expansion.
Specifically in oil palm, the geographical scope has also been expanded to Papua New Guinea and Africa as part of FGV’s portfolio optimisation.
In fact, the new batch of M&As will likely take place within the first quarter of 2014, says Emir in a recent interview with StarBizWeek.
Part of the RM4.5bil proceeds from the IPO has already been utilised to finance several major M&As last year – including the RM1.2bil takeover of Sabah-based plantation company Pontian United Plantations Bhd, the RM2.2bil purchase of the remaining 51% stake in its associate company, Felda Holdings Bhd’s RM35mil in a 100-tonne-per-hour biodiesel plant in Pahang and RM44.2mil to buy a 95% stake in two plantation companies with 21,037ha of oil palm estates in West Kalimantan.
Of interest in 2014 will be the inclusion of FGV’s “jewel in the crown” Felda Holdings as its 100% subsidiary and future contributions to the group. Also FGV is seen to be making aggressive inroads into biodiesel and biomass-related operations.
Another daunting task for Emir next year is to garner the interest of short and long-term investors as well as hedge funds on FGV. Its underperforming share price, trading below its IPO price of RM4.55 per share since being listed in July 2012, has been closely scrutinised by market analysts and investors alike.
To address this issue, Emir has indicated that an investors’ roadshow was being planned by the first quarter of next year. It is slated to be held in several countries to showcase FGV as an attractive long-term plantation investment play.
In addition, Emir is expected to spruce up FGV’s operation internally, particularly in terms of cost structure management in the entire palm oil supply value chain.
Hence, 2014 will be the year when FGV sees major changes in its management style, focusing on improvements in efficiency.
It is envisaged that FGV’s aggressive and ambitious stance under its new head honcho will bring the plantation conglomerate closer to becoming a top-10 global agro commodity player within the next eight years. – By Hanim Adnan
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