Halcyon Agri Corporation Limited, one of the world’s largest natural rubber supply chain managers, has entered into an agreement with RCMA Group Pte Ltd to acquire the assets and entities of its Polymer Division for up to US$33.8 million.
The division offers end-to-end services for the polymer industry, including natural rubber and latex, synthetic rubber, chemicals and reclaimed rubber, laboratory and certification services.
The acquisition of RCMA Polymer Division provides Halcyon Agri the opportunity to capitalise on some of the world’s oldest trading names in natural rubber, latex and synthetic rubber, thereby enhancing the Group’s market position. In addition, the combination of Halcyon Agri and RCMA Polymer Division will create one of the world’s largest distribution hubs for latex and specialty tyre rubber.
The assets and entities to be acquired will be injected into two of Halcyon Agri’s sales and distribution arms, namely, Centrotrade Holdings Pte Ltd and New Continent Enterprises Limited.
CTH
A total of four business units from RCMA Polymer Division will be injected into CTH, which has been set up to function as an active asset manager and funding platform. The acquisition of RCMA (Hatyai) Limited and RCMA Terminals B.V. will be in the form of equity deals, while Halcyon Agri will acquire the polymer-related assets of RCMA Europe B.V., RCMA Americas Inc. and RCMA Commodities UK Ltd.
The acquisition will also include the Wurfbain, Corrie MacColl, and Alan Grant distribution franchises, some of the world’s oldest and most established rubber trading names in their respective home markets. Besides the expansion of its European and American distribution assets, the acquisition will also allow Halcyon Agri to gain an immediate foothold in the synthetic rubber market.
The acquisition also marks the renaming of GMG Global Ltd to Halcyon Rubber & Plantations Pte Ltd (“HRP”). GMG Global Ltd became the parent company of CTH after it was acquired by Halcyon Agri and delisted from the Singapore Exchange in 2016. In addition to CTH, HRP also owns Société de Développement du Caoutchouc Cameruonais (“SDCC”).
CTH has played an integral role in expanding the distribution activities under Centrotrade Deutschland GmbH (“Centrotrade”), adding China as an important growth driver to its international markets of Malaysia, the United States and Europe. Centrotrade will continue to develop its Centex brand of specialised latex, with a specific focus on marketing the latex and rubber produced from the two Cameroon plantations owned and operated by SDCC.
More significantly, the Group’s in-house laboratory and testing facilities, along with the combined franchises of Centrotrade, Wurfbain, Corrie MacColl, and Alan Grant, will provide the global marketplace for specialty latex and rubber with unparalleled technical support and expertise for a seamless global supply network.
In all, the combination of CTH, a world-class speciality rubber distribution platform, with SDCC, the world’s largest rubber plantation business, will create a unique opportunity for HRP to develop tailor-made polymer solutions for the latex and speciality rubber consuming industry. This will also enhance Halcyon Agri’s position as the market leader in the Global Non-Tyre Majors and Specialty Tyre segment.
NCE
NCE will take over selected employees from the Singapore-based polymer division of RCMA Asia Pte Ltd, which will better position NCE to develop its origination and hedging capabilities and increase distribution volume accordingly.