Norton Rose Fulbright has acted as foreign legal counsel to both Sime Darby Plantation Berhad (SD Plantation) and Sime Darby Property Berhad (SD Property) and their affiliates in relation to the listing of the plantation and property business arms of Sime Darby Berhad (the former parent entity of SD Plantation and SD Property) on the Main Market of the Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad (the stock exchange of Malaysia).

This landmark corporate exercise comprised of an internal restructuring, distribution in specie of shares to shareholders of Sime Darby Berhad and the listing of both SD Plantation and SD Property.

This restructuring plan exercise is instrumental in enabling the various Sime Darby entities to pursue their own growth strategies by focusing on their respective businesses on the back of the benefits expected to be derived from this pure play exercise.

Prior to the demerger, Sime Darby Berhad which was founded in 1910, had a workforce of over 120,000 employees in 25 countries and 4 territories and it was  one of the largest companies on the Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad with a market capitalisation of approximately RM60.8 billion (US$14.7 billion) as at 24 November 2017.

SD Plantation is the world’s largest oil palm planter by planted area. SD Property owns 40% of the Battersea Power Station project in the United Kingdom, one of the largest re-development projects in Europe.

Sheela Moorthy, Norton Rose Fulbright’s Singapore-based partner who led on the deal, commented:
“This is a historical deal for Sime Darby Berhad. The restructuring is vital to the growth of the company and we are delighted to have brought together a global team across the Norton Rose Fulbright network and successfully advised our client.”

Sheela was assisted by Singapore associate Dexter Tan. The full Norton Rose Fulbright team on this deal comprised more than 50 lawyers from ten offices around the world including Australian partners Jeremy Wickens (corporate, M&A and securities) and Michael French (real estate); Asia partners Lynn Yang (corporate, M&A and securities), Vicky Lam (corporate, M&A and securities) and Somboon Kitiyansub (corporate and finance); London partners Simon FT Cox (corporate, M&A and securities), Dan Wagerfield (real estate), Dan Kennedy (banking and finance), Neil Biswas (real estate); and US partner, David Barrett (corporate, M&A and securities). The relationship partner is Wilson Ang (Singapore, Disputes).