The group&rsquo s subsidiary and a related company buy around US$15.4 million worth of shares in Unity Foods

 

WILMAR International : F34 -0.96% has upped its effective stake in Unity Foods, a Pakistan-listed edible oils and industrial fats producer, to 42.17 per cent, the Singapore mainboard-listed agribusiness announced on Friday (Jun 28).

 

It increased its interest through its wholly owned subsidiary Wilmar Pakistan Holdings as well as Unity Wilmar Agro, which is 52 per cent owned by Wilmar Pakistan Holdings.

 

Wilmar Pakistan Holdings bought 156.5 million shares and Unity Wilmar Agro purchased about two million shares in a public offer. They paid around US$15.4 million in total and raised their stakes in Unity Foods to 34.84 per cent and 14.08 per cent, respectively.

 

Unity Foods mainly manufactures and processes edible oils, industrial fats, flour and various feed ingredients for Pakistan&rsquo s poultry and livestock sectors.

Between Jun 11 and 12, Wilmar International : F34 -0.32% chairman and chief executive officer Kuok Khoon Hong grew his deemed interest in the global agribusiness by 1,278,300 shares at S$3.08 a share. This increased his total interest from 14.07 per cent to 14.09 per cent.

 

He has gradually increased his total interest in Wilmar from 12.94 per cent in October 2022.

 

He has served as the chairman of Wilmar since July 2006, and maintains more than 50 years of extensive experience in the agribusiness industry, with involvement in the grains, edible oils and oilseeds businesses.

 

The agribusiness industry has undergone significant changes since the 1970s, having come through various global trends and challenges. From the expansion of global trade and technological advancements to the increasing importance of sustainability and climate change impacts, the sector has had to adapt to a rapidly changing world.

 

Today, agribusinesses are not only focused on production, but also on innovative practices that meet the demands of a growing population, even as they address environmental concerns.

 

Wilmar announced in its FY23 Annual Sustainability Report, released May 30, that it successfully secured an additional US$200 million sustainability-linked trade finance facility from Standard Chartered in January 2023. This brought the aggregate amount of sustainability-linked financing secured from various financial institutions, such as OCBC : O39 -1.12%, UOB and The Bank of East Asia, to approximately US$3.4 billion as at December 2023. It bagged its first sustainability-linked loan in 2017.

 

The group also reiterated that it had made significant progress in analysing its emissions footprint, including completing the mapping of the group&rsquo s Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, to determine its total GHG emissions for the new baseline year of 2022.

 

The group is also identifying the key categories in its Scope 3 GHG emissions for inclusion in its Science-Based Target initiative commitment, which it signed up to in 2022.

 

Wilmar also continues to be the only Singapore company under the Food Products category included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices World Index.

 

On Jun 7, Wilmar non-executive and independent director George Yeo acquired 200,000 shares at an average price of S$3.11 a share. With a consideration of S$621,000, this increased his direct interest in the global agribusiness from 400,000 to 600,000 shares.

 

He was appointed to the board of Wilmar on Apr 19.

 

On Jun 10, he also acquired 15,000 shares of Creative Technology : C76 -4.17% at S$1.26 a share. Yeo became a director of Creative in 2021, and the acquisition increased his direct interest in the company from 210,350 to 225,350 shares.  

 

Yeo is also an independent non-executive director of AIA Group, which is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and Pinduoduo, which is listed on Nasdaq. He is also adviser to Brunswick for its geopolitical initiative, Singapore&rsquo s V3 Group, Huawei International in Singapore, Winning International Group, Gurin Energy and Salim Group.  

 

Yeo was with Kerry Group in Hong Kong from 2012 to 2021. He was chairman and executive director of Kerry Logistics Network from 2012 to 2019. From September 1988 to May 2011, he served 23 years in the Singapore government, and was Minister for Information and the Arts, Minister for Health, Minister for Trade and Industry and Minister for Foreign Affairs.