Sinar Mas helps Amcol

Sinar Mas helps Amcol

SINGAPORE (Reuter): Indonesian conglomerate Sinar Mas will
inject some of its palm oil estates in Indonesia and a noodle
factory in China into troubled Amcol Holdings, the Business Times
said yesterday.

The newspaper said the assets to be injected were worth more
than Singapore $2.0 billion. It also said Amcol was to be renamed
Golden Amcol.

In August, Sinar Mas was named the rescuer of trading and
property group Amcol by its judicial managers from Price
Waterhouse. The judicial managers could not be immediately
reached for comment on the Business Times report.

Amcol was placed under judicial management in July after a
Price Waterhouse report said the company had serious cashflow
problems and difficulties meeting its financial obligations.

The Business Times said it was not yet known how much of Sinar
Mas's palm oil estates, held under its subsidiary Smart
Corporation, would be injected into Amcol.

The judicial managers have confirmed that they were
negotiating with Funai of Japan to buy over Amcol's 45 percent
stake in Funai Electric (Singapore) Pte Ltd (FES) for which it
paid S$2.25 million, the Business Times also reported.