Indonesia to form ‘mega’ rubber company

Indonesia's government plans to invest US$5.6 billion consolidating 15 state-owned businesses into a large single rubber and palm oil company. The Jakarta Globe reports that the 15 businesses, which last year generated combined sales of some $4.5 billion, will be consolidated under parent company PT Perkebunan Nusantara III. The planned Indonesian merger echoes the plantation merger that occurred in Malaysia in 2008, when the government there combined three state-owned planters to form Sime Darby.