The story
Founded by Robert Kuok in 1968.1
Establishment
The businessman Robert Kuok and his brother Philip founded the company Kuok Brothers as a rice wholesaler in Malaya in 1948. They ventured into the sugar and flour milling business in the 1950s and 60s.
In 1952, Kuok Brothers began acquiring sugar plantations in 1952 and founded Perlis Plantations Berhad in 1968 to house its sugar cane cultivation and milling business. The company also established Malaysian Sugar Manufacturing Company (MSM), a sugar refiner, in 1959. Kuok said the choice to switch from the rice to sugar business was due to tough competition in the rice market in the 1950s. Having gone to school in the English-medium Raffles Institution in Singapore, he also had an advantage in the sugar industry since the sugar trade was conducted in English.
Kuok Brothers also established Federal Flour Mills (FFM) in 1962, entering the flour milling industry to take advantage of the government's import-substitution economic policy.
By the end of the 1960s, through PPB, MSM and its sugar commodities trading business, Kuok Brothers was said to control more than 10 percent of the world's sugar supplier, earning Kuok the nickname "the Sugar King."
Expansion and diversification
Kuok took PPB public in 1972. The listing coincided with Kuok shifting the focus of his business outside Malaysia, especially to Singapore. Subsequently, Kuok Brothers began consolidating its core businesses into PPB. PPB acquired MSM in 1976 and added FFM to its fold in 1987.
In the 1980s, the company expanded into the property development and palm oil plantation industries.
It acquired local property developer Tai Yan Realty (since renamed PPB Hartabina) and a 34 percent stake in Shaw Brothers Malaysia between 1982 and 1984. Its involvement in properties also led to the company venturing in retail by operating several supermarkets and discount stores throughout Malaysia. From 1996 to 2000, it operated the Tops chain of supermarkets in a joint venture with Dutch retailer Ahold, but exited the business due to continuing losses. The property division also included Rasa Sayang Beach Hotels from 1987 until 1999 when it was transferred to the Shangri-La Group.
PPB entered into a joint venture with Golden Harvest (International) Ltd of Hong Kong to establish Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC) to take over the Shaw cinema chain in 1987. The group subsequently bought out Golden Harvest's stake. GSC has since grown into one of Malaysia's largest cinema chains and film distributors.
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In 1986 and 1987 respectively, PPB acquired Saremas Sdn Bhd (in Sarawak) and 60 percent of Sapi Plantations (in Sabah) to establish itself in the palm oil plantation business. It also acquired a 70 percent interest in Indonesian palm oil producer PT Tidar Sungkai Sawit (PTSS) in 1995. The East Malaysian palm oil businesses were consolidated into PPB Oil Palms Berhad in 1997 and was listed in the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. PTSS was transferred into PPB Oil Palms in 2000.
In the 1990s, the group acquired a majority holding in Chemquest Sdn Bhd in stages to enter the waste management business. In 2001, Chemquest, through its 25 percent stake in Konsortium Abbas Sdn Bhd, won a 30-year concession to operate the Sungai Semenyih Dam and Water Treatment Plant.
In retail business, PPB operated Kerry's, named after one of Kuok's group companies in Hong Kong. Kerry's began as a joint venture with Japanese supermarket chain Chujitsuya through Chujitsu Superstores Sdn Bhd with only two stores opened in Kuala Lumpur (Cheras and Ampang City). In 1991, PPB increased its equity of the joint venture to 65% and renamed it as Kerry's to reflect the increased local management and shareholding. With the store in Johor Bahru becoming the flagship store, Kerry's plans to open a new store every "12 to 18 months" depending on the "right conditions", eventually totalling to 7 or 8 stores.
2000s
In 2007, the group divested its stake in PPB Oil Palms to Wilmar International in exchange for Wilmar shares. As a result, it now has an 18.3 percent interest in Wilmar, making it the single largest shareholder.
PPB also sold MSM and other sugar-related businesses to Felda Global Ventures in 2009 for RM1.25 billion.
From Wikipedia’s article on PPB Group, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4