Guthrie (company)
Encyclopedia
Guthrie Group Limited was a Malaysian company that primarily dealt with plantations. It merged with three other plantation groups to form the world's largest plantation company with the name of Sime Darby Berhad
.
in 1821 by Alexander Guthrie, as the first British
trading company in Southeast Asia
. Guthrie introduced rubber
and oil palm
in Malaysia in 1896 and 1924 respectively.
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.
being the largest single shareholder, the government merged Guthrie with Sime Darby
and Golden Hope
plantation to form a new entity named Synergy Drive, later renamed Sime Darby. All Guthrie shares was de-listed on November 1, 2007 and re-listed on November 30, 2007. As of November 2007, Sime Darby is the largest company in Malaysia by market capitalization and also the largest plantation operator in the world with a land bank of over 540,000 hecters
(Borneo
) in Indonesia. The group is also engaged in real estate (with the formation of Guthrie Properties in 1994) and manufacturing.
Sime Darby
Sime Darby is Malaysia's leading multinational conglomerate involved in five core sectors: plantations, property, industrial, motors and energy & utilities, with a growing presence in healthcare...
.
History
Guthrie was founded in SingaporeSingapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
in 1821 by Alexander Guthrie, as the first British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
trading company in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
. Guthrie introduced rubber
Rubber
Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...
and oil palm
Oil palm
The oil palms comprise two species of the Arecaceae, or palm family. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. The African Oil Palm Elaeis guineensis is native to West Africa, occurring between Angola and Gambia, while the American Oil Palm Elaeis oleifera is native to...
in Malaysia in 1896 and 1924 respectively.
Acquisition by Malaysia
In 1981, the group became a wholly Malaysian-owned company after Malaysian Prime MinisterPrime Minister of Malaysia
The Prime Minister of Malaysia is the indirectly elected head of government of Malaysia. He is officially appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the head of state, who in HM's judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of that House of Representatives , the...
Mahathir Mohamad engineered a raid by Pemodalan Nasional Berhad
Pemodalan Nasional Berhad
Permodalan Nasional Berhad is Malaysia's biggest fund management company. The main headquarters is located at Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur near Tabung Haji building. PNB is the parent company for Amanah Saham Nasional Berhad which operates a number of unit trust schemes, and is a wholly owned...
to take over the group at the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
. 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
Bursa Malaysia
Bursa Malaysia is an exchange holding company approved under Section 15 of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007. It operates a fully integrated exchange, offering the complete range of exchange-related services including trading, clearing, settlement and depository services.- History :Bursa...
(KLSE) in 1989 in what was then the largest public issue in Malaysia.
Merger With Sime Darby
With the government investment company Pemodalan Nasional BerhadPemodalan Nasional Berhad
Permodalan Nasional Berhad is Malaysia's biggest fund management company. The main headquarters is located at Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur near Tabung Haji building. PNB is the parent company for Amanah Saham Nasional Berhad which operates a number of unit trust schemes, and is a wholly owned...
being the largest single shareholder, the government merged Guthrie with Sime Darby
Sime Darby
Sime Darby is Malaysia's leading multinational conglomerate involved in five core sectors: plantations, property, industrial, motors and energy & utilities, with a growing presence in healthcare...
and Golden Hope
Golden Hope
Golden Hope Plantations Berhad is an estate and plantations company in Malaysia.-History:In 1905 Harrison and Crosfield, a British tea and coffee trading company, purchased several small estates in Malaysia for £50,000 and amalgamated them to form the Golden Hope Rubber Estate.In 1982 Harrison...
plantation to form a new entity named Synergy Drive, later renamed Sime Darby. All Guthrie shares was de-listed on November 1, 2007 and re-listed on November 30, 2007. As of November 2007, Sime Darby is the largest company in Malaysia by market capitalization and also the largest plantation operator in the world with a land bank of over 540,000 hecters
Current activities
The group's main activities are plantation and property management. The official trading name of Guthrie is Kumpulan Guthrie Berhad. Guthrie Group has plantation estates in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah, and northern Sumatra and West KalimantanWest Kalimantan
West Kalimantan is a province of Indonesia. It is one of four Indonesian provinces in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Its capital city Pontianak is located right on the Equator....
(Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
) in Indonesia. The group is also engaged in real estate (with the formation of Guthrie Properties in 1994) and manufacturing.