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Unimills is member of the world’s largest plantation group and Malaysia’s newest multinational

Zwijndrecht, 3 December 2007: With the creation of Sime Darby Berhad, Malaysia’s newest multinational, Unimills is now part of the world’s largest plantation group pledged to sustainable production. Sime Darby is the merger of Unimills parent company, Golden Hope Plantations Berhad, with two other leading Malaysian plantation companies, Sime Darby Berhad and Kumpulan Guthrie. Malaysia's new multinational is now the world’s largest plantations group with some 543,000 hectares of oil palm concentrated on the Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak and Sabah in Malaysia, and Sumatera, Kalimantan and Sulawesi in Indonesia.

Malaysia’s largest multinational
In announcing the name of the new multinational company, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said he was confident that the merged entity would make its mark on the global stage. Sime Darby is the largest listed-company on Bursa Malaysia, with a market capitalization of more than RM50 billion. As well as plantations, the new multinational has operations in property and sustainable development on four continents and in over 20 countries including Australia, New Zealand, China, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, South Africa and the Netherlands where Unimills is based. Sime Darby Chairman, Tun Musa Hitam, said “We are making giant steps today, foraging into overseas markets tapping into industries in Australia and investing in China’s future.”

Tun Musa also had a message for shareholders in Malaysia and around the world. We will continue to create value for our shareholders by accelerating growth to more than 10% per year. Sime Darby chairman also touched on the need for the multinational to link sustainability to long-term viability. “We believe that we cannot succeed or be truly successful without exercising our responsibility and that means improving the quality of life of those we touch and thinking about the next generation and developing sustainable futures.”

“Unimills welcomes the merger and we are proud to be part of Sime Darby”, says Unimills General Manager, Dr Alexander van der Klauw. “The corporate commitment to social responsibility and sustainable growth and development is fully in line with the Unimills strategy. We are looking forward to being part of a global champion pledged to customer focus and innovation, and committed to sustainability through sound agricultural practices and conserving biodiversity in the sensitive tropical rainforests in South-East Asia."

About Unimills                                                                    www.unimills.com

A member of the newly founded Sime Darby group, Unimills B.V. is a leading European supplier of tailor-made vegetable oils, producing more than 450,000 tonnes of products per year from the company base in Zwijndrecht, the Netherlands. Unimills' strength is the diversity of processes for oil-based ingredients, ranging from refining to double-fractionation, and from interesterification to hydrogenation of oils. Unimills sells products under key brand names including Delico® hardstocks for margarines and spreads, GoldBake® dough fats, Prifex® for premium flaked fats, and Cremex® the new generation healthy ice cream fats. Based on innovation and responsibility, the Unimills strategy is directed to being the preferred supplier of tailor-made vegetable oil based ingredients and co-developer of new food products with the leading food companies.