Publicly listed palm oil company PT Sawit Sumbermas Sarana (SSMS) plans to acquire 100 percent shares worth US$129 million in its two affiliated firms to expand its business in oil palm plantations.

Sawit Sumbermas subsidiary PT Kalimantan Sawit Abadi will take over the two palm oil firms, PT Tanjung Sawit Abadi and PT Sawit Multi Utama, from their holding company, Citra Borneo Indah Group, which is also Sawit Sumbermas' controlling shareholder, according to a prospectus on
Wednesday.

Sawit Sumbermas and Citra Borneo Indah Group signed the conditional share purchase agreement (CSPA) on Nov. 18 this year.

The prospectus says that Sawit Sumbermas plans to expand its oil palm plantations to meet higher demand for crude palm oil (CPO) and other palm products in the future on account of the world's population increase.

According to the company's management, the acquisition will boost its plantation ownership from 78,071 hectares to 110,518 hectares as well as its assets significantly, which will offer an added value for all stakeholders, including the investing public.

Both Tanjung Sawit Abadi and Sawit Multi Utama ' companies soon to be acquired ' own a total of 32,446 hectares of plantation area, comprising 10,462 hectares and 14,801 hectares of already planted areas, respectively, with 2,967 hectares and 1,732 hectares of plantable areas each.

The company's newsletter says that an extraordinary general shareholders meeting is scheduled for Dec. 22 to obtain required approval related to the transaction.

Sawit Sumbermas Sarana finance director Harry M. Nadir said that the acquisition plan had been disclosed by the company during its initial public offering (IPO) at the end of last year through a management agreement.

'We have announced that the affiliated acquisition is the fastest way and economically feasible to expand our business because the two companies already had a significant plantation area with good quality,' he said.

Harry said the company's CPO production growth would be positive after the acquisition due to a younger average age of its plants, from 8 to 5 years old.

The company plans to provide an Rp 480 billion ($39.53 million) loan to Kalimantan Sawit to finance the acquisition, while the rest will be covered by bank loans.

In the nine-month period of this year, Sawit Sumbermas Sarana posted Rp 477.64 billion in net profit, an increase of 39.89 percent from
Rp 341.44 billion year-on-year (y-o-y) due to a higher production and improving profitability.

The company booked Rp 1.55 trillion in sales as of September this year, up 23 percent from Rp 1.26 trillion in the same period last year. Meanwhile, gross margin and net margin expanded to 51.76 percent and 30.86 percent, respectively.

The company's total assets increased by 1.98 percent to Rp 3.77 trillion in the nine-month period from Rp 3.7 trillion y-o-y.

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