Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad (KLK) () is a Malaysian multi-national company. The core business of the group is plantation (oil palm and rubber). The company has plantations that cover more than 250,000 hectares in Malaysia (both

Peninsular A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

and

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indone ...

) and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

(

Belitung Belitung ( Belitung Malay: ''Belitong'', formerly Billiton) is an island on the east coast of Sumatra, Indonesia in the Java Sea. It covers , and had a population of 309,097 at the 2020 Census. Administratively, it forms two regencies (Bel ...

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

and

Kalimantan Kalimantan () is the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. It constitutes 73% of the island's area. The non-Indonesian parts of Borneo are Brunei and East Malaysia. In Indonesia, "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo. In 2019, ...

). Since the 1990s, the company has diversified its business activities such as resource-based manufacturing (

oleochemical Oleochemistry is the study of vegetable oils and animal oils and fats, and oleochemicals derived from these fats and oils. The resulting product can be called oleochemicals (from Latin: oleum "olive oil"). The major product of this industry is soap, ...

s, derivatives and

speciality chemical Speciality chemicals (also called specialties or effect chemicals) are particular chemical products which provide a wide variety of effects on which many other industry sectors rely. Some of the categories of speciality chemicals are adhesives, agr ...

s), property development and retailing (personal care products, toiletries and fine foods) with worldwide presence. The company is listed on the

Bursa Malaysia Bursa Malaysia is the stock exchange of Malaysia. It is one of the largest bourses in ASEAN. It is based in Kuala Lumpur and was previously known as the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE). It provides a full integration of transactions, offeri ...

and is Malaysia's third-largest palm oil producer. KLK was ranked 1858th in the 2013 Forbes Global 2000 Leading Companies, with market cap of USD 6.91 billion. In 2014, KLK was ranked 23rd most valuable Malaysia brand on the Malaysia 100 2014 with a brand value of USD 364 million. The late Thong Yaw Hong, (former) secretary general of the Malaysian Treasury, sat on the board of KLK. Lee Oi Hian, the CEO of KLK, is or was chairman of the board of trustees of the Malaysian Palm Oil Council.

History

The Kuala Lumpur Rubber Company, Limited (KLR) (1906–1960)

KLR was founded in London, in 1906 to oversee some 600 ha. plantations (rubber and coffee) in

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

(now Malaysia). In 1907, the shares of KLR were listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Kuala Lumpur-Kepong Amalgamated Limited (KLKA) (1960–1973)

In 1960, KLR changed its name to KLKA. The group started to plant oil palm in Fraser Estate. The group's first mill, the Fraser Mill was opened in 1967. In 1971, KLKA opened its Head Office in Kuala Lumpur. The next year, KLKA's tax residence was transferred from the United Kingdom to Malaysia.

Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad (KLK) (1973–present)

In 1973, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad (KLK) was incorporated in Malaysia and under a Scheme of Reconstruction, KLKA went into voluntary liquidation with KLK taking over the assets and liabilities of KLKA. The company's shares is listed on the stock exchanges of Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and London. In 1979, the Head Office was moved from Kuala Lumpur to Ladang Pinji, Perak.

Business activities

Plantation

Plantation is the core business of KLK. Currently, KLK has more than 250,000 ha. of plantations areas in Malaysia and Indonesia. The annual production for fresh fruit bunches (FFB) is 3.1 million tonnes. KLK's own mills and refineries will then process the crop into crude palm oil, RBD palm olein and stearin, and kernel oil and cake. Meanwhile, in 2010, the production of rubber was approximately 23 million kg. It is among the few companies, that have been prosecuted for open burning so far. As of September 2010, the geographical distribution of the group's plantations is as follows:

Resource-based manufacturing

Oleochemicals

The core division of the sector is KLK Oleo, one of the largest palm oil based oleochemicals producer in the world. KLK marked it entrance into oleochemicals back in 1991, with the opening of Palm-Oleo Sdn. Bhd. Currently, KLK Oleo consists of nine companies, six in Malaysia, two in China and one in Europe (situated in

Emmerich am Rhein Emmerich am Rhein ( Low Rhenish and nl, Emmerik) is a city and municipality in the northwest of the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The city has a harbour and a quay at the Rhine. In terms of local government organization, it is ...

, Germany). The full list of the companies is shown below. KLK-Emmerich GmbH 2015 05

Others

KLK also owns Dr. W. Kolb Holding AG, a producer of nonionic surfactant with their headquarters in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and Stolthaven (Westport) Sdn. Bhd., a common user liquid storage terminal at Westport,

Port Klang Port Klang ( ms, Pelabuhan Klang) is a town and the main gateway by sea into Malaysia. Known during colonial times as Port Swettenham ( ms, Pelabuhan Swettenham) but renamed Port Klang in July 1972, it is the largest port in the country. It is l ...

. The production factories of Dr.W.Kolb AG are located below: * Dr.W.Kolb Moerdijk (The Netherlands) * Dr.W.Kolb Specialties Delden (The Netherlands)

Property

KLK owns KL-Kepong Country Homes Sdn. Bhd. Notable residential areas developed by KLK are Desa Coalfields and Seri Coalfields, both in

Sungai Buloh Sungai Buloh, or Sungei Buloh, is a town, a mukim (commune) and a parliamentary constituency in the northern part of Petaling District, Selangor, Malaysia. The name itself means ''bamboo river'' in the Malay language. It is located 16 km ...

, Selangor.

Retailing

Crabtree and evelyn in Guildford High Street - geograph

Crabtree & Evelyn Crabtree & Evelyn is a current online-only and former brick-and-mortar retailer of body, fragrance and home care products. Beginning with one store in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1971, the brand grew to an international presence, with hundreds ...

is a retailer of personal care products, toiletries, home fragrance products and fine foods with the headquarters in Woodstock, Connecticut, USA. The brand is sold in 40 countries. In early 2012, the Crabtree & Evelyn business was sold to Khuan Choo International Limited for US$155 million.

References

{{Palm oil 1906 establishments in British Malaya Palm oil companies of Malaysia Companies listed on Bursa Malaysia Conglomerate companies of Malaysia Multinational companies headquartered in Malaysia Agriculture companies established in 1906