Guthrie to sell RI stake

Guthrie to sell RI stake

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd. plans to sell a minority stake in Minamas plantations, its Indonesian oil palm operation, to foreign investors.

However, Group Chief Executive Abdul Khalid Ibrahim declined to say how much of a stake.

Minamas owns 200,000 hectares of oil palm plantations in Indonesia's Sumatra and Kalimantan. Guthrie bought the estates in March 2001 from the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency.

Khalid said Guthrie is allowed to sell the 20 percent stake after a year under the terms of the sale agreement with the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency.

Guthrie owns 100 percent of the second tranche of estates, which cost it $330 million. -- Dow Jones