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MONDAY | JULY 13, 2026

Economic sovereignty and the Guthrie Dawn Raid

Ű BY HAYATUN RAZAK sunbiz@thesundaily.com

KUALA LUMPUR: More than four decades after Malaysia’s takeover of British plantation giant Guthrie Corporation in a single trading session on the London Stock Exchange in September 1981, the “Dawn Raid” continues to offer lessons on economic sovereignty, according to economic historian Prof. Nicholas J. White. Speaking to SunBiz following his lecture “Revisiting the Guthrie Dawn Raid”, White said the event remains relevant because governments continue to grapple with control of strategic assets. “Getting control of Guthrie, and of the London Tin Corporation, was a means of trying to get greater national sovereignty for Malaysia at the time,” he said. White said there are parallels between the motivations behind Malaysia’s 1981 acquisition of Guthrie and today’s debates over control of strategic industries. “I think there is a danger of us losing our national sovereignty, if you like, in situations where resources are controlled from outside.” White said Britain itself is grappling with concerns over the influence of large US technology and social media companies on its politics and economy, echoing the anxieties that drove Malaysia’s efforts to regain control of strategic assets in the early 1980s. Drawing on years of research into British and Malaysian archives, White argued that the Dawn Raid has often been remembered as a dramatic one-day corporate takeover, when in reality it was the culmination of years of planning rooted in the New Economic Policy (NEP) and driven by technocrats, policymakers and investment professionals. He said former Bank Negara Malaysia governor and Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) chairman Tun Ismail Mohamed Ali deserved “far more recognition” than he received for his role in planning the operation, while Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who became prime minister only in July 1981, likely accelerated the JAKARTA: Malaysia-Indonesia trade is projected to grow by 10% this year to US$29.3 billion (RM119.2 billion), supported by expanding cooperation in the halal sector and stronger market access between the two countries. Malaysia’s Charge d’Affaires in Indonesia Farzamie Sarkawi ( pic ) said the projected growth reflects stronger bilateral halal cooperation, which has expanded collaboration in trade, investment and human capital development over the past three years. He said the cooperation esta blished under a bilateral memo randum of cooperation on halal signed in 2023 has created greater opportunities for both countries to deepen collaboration across various sectors. “This includes cooperation in

respond through a programme known as “Ropel”, which gradually transferred plantation assets into Malaysian ownership. However, the programme targeted only 40% Malaysian ownership by 1990, well short of the majority control sought by Malaysian policy makers. White also said Guthrie increasingly frustrated PNB by using proceeds from Malaysian land sales to diversify into businesses in Britain and North America instead of reinvesting in Malaysia. The launch of Amanah Saham Nasional in April 1981 increased pressure on PNB to secure high quality assets capable of generating returns for its rapidly growing base of Bumiputera investors, making Guthrie an increasingly attractive target. White said the “most significant long-term asset” acquired through the Dawn Raid was not necessarily Guthrie’s plantation business itself, but its extensive land banks near rapidly growing urban centres such as Petaling Jaya. As Malaysia industrialised and urbanisation accelerated over sub sequent decades, many former plantation estates were transformed into townships, industrial estates and commercial developments, subs tantially increasing their value. He said PNB recognised that long term potential well before many London-based investors, who largely viewed Guthrie through the earnings of its plantation business rather than the future value of its land. White explained that the subsequent sale of Guthrie’s overseas assets substantially offset the acquisition cost, while the takeover redirected dividend payments from British shareholders to Malaysian investors. in the five-day D-8 Halal Expo Indonesia, which concluded on Sunday, was led by the Malaysia External Trade Development Corpo ration and Tourism Malaysia, and aimed at connecting the country’s halal capabilities to opportunities across the D-8 market. The exhibition provides a platform to strengthen part nerships in halal trade, investment, business networking and the development of regional halal value chains among D-8 member countries, he said. Farzamie noted that intra-D-8 trade currently stands at about US$150 billion to US$160 billion annually, with the bloc targeting to raise the figure to US$500 billion by 2030 through deeper economic co operation, including stronger halal industry integration.

o Malaysia’s takeover of British plantation giant in September 1981 continues to offer lessons even today, says economic historian

by Sime Darby failed, PNB appointed merchant bank NM Rothschild & Sons to devise a new strategy. White said the operation relied on what Rothschild called the “China Wall” principle. “You only allow, in takeover bids, as few people as possible to know of your intentions. It needs to keep things as close to the organisation as possible.” On the Malaysian side, only Ismail and PNB executive Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim knew the full details of the operation, while communi cations used bird-themed code names such as “eagles”, “hawks”, “doves” and “pigeons” to disguise the identities of companies and indi viduals. The secrecy became so con vincing that even those closest to the operation misunderstood what was happening. “So much so that Ismail’s secretary ... could not understand why Ismail had suddenly developed an interest in ornithology, in birdwatching,” White said. He recalled that Khalid’s wife was equally puzzled by the frequent late night telephone calls with London discussing birds, unaware they referred to one of Malaysia’s most significant corporate acquisitions. White said the operation ultimately succeeded after PNB offered £9.01 per share, a substantial premium over Guthrie’s prevailing market price of about £6.33. While the offer attracted criticism in Malaysia at the time for appearing

execution of plans that had already been developed. White said one of the biggest misconceptions was that the “Buy British Last” campaign was solely a response to the Guthrie takeover. “I think it’s still assumed that ‘Buy British Last’ was connected directly to the Guthrie Dawn Raid. It was in a way, but also there were other issues,” he added. Those included Britain’s decision to increase tuition fees for Commonwealth students, disagree ments over the International Tin Agreement, the Concorde landing rights dispute and Malaysia Airlines’ London route allocation. He also disputed the commonly held belief that changes to London Stock Exchange takeover rules shortly after the Dawn Raid were introduced solely because of Malaysia’s actions. “It’s not Malaysian economic nationalism – it’s actually De Beers from Johannesburg,” White said, referring to aggressive takeover bids involving the South African mining company and a Belgian investment trust that also prompted regulators to tighten the rules. White recounted how, within hours of trading opening on the London Stock Exchange on Sept 7, 1981, PNB moved from owning about a quarter of Guthrie to securing majority control in what the Financial Times described at the time as one of the fastest corporate takeovers in British history. After an earlier takeover attempt

White says there are parallels between the motivations behind Malaysia’s 1981 acquisition of Guthrie and today’s debates over control of strategic industries. expensive as commodity prices weakened and the global economy slowed, White said the premium was intentional. “The price is really to tempt M&G,” he said, referring to Britain’s largest unit trust manager at the time. White said the £9.01 offer was deliberately pitched to entice major institutional shareholders, parti cularly M&G, to sell quickly, allowing PNB to cross the mandatory takeover threshold and secure majority control of Guthrie. White traced the origins of the Dawn Raid to the NEP, introduced in the early 1970s to increase Bumiputera participation in the corporate sector while addressing colonial-era ownership structures. He said Guthrie attempted to Farzamie said Indonesia also remained a major supplier of halal related raw materials and ingre dients to Malaysia, with imports of palm oil-based manufactured products reaching US$2.34 billion and palm oil and palm oil-based agricultural products amounting to US$1.14 billion, supporting Malaysia’s halal food processing, ingredients, cosmetics and personal care industries. With member countries of the Developing Eight (D-8) Orga nisation for Economic Cooperation gathering at this year’s D-8 Halal Expo Indonesia, Farzamie said Malaysia hopes to build on the momentum of its bilateral halal cooperation with Indonesia by expanding partnerships across the wider bloc. He said Malaysia’s participation

Stronger halal cooperation, market access boost trade with Indonesia

foundation for further growth this year. Throughout last

trade, investment and human capital through the exchange of

expertise, training and other initiatives,” he told Bernama. Since its implement ation, Farzamie said, the bilateral cooperation has made positive progress, with the mutual recogni tion of halal certification between Malaysia and Indonesia facilitating the movement of products and improving market access for businesses in both countries.

year, he said, trade in halal-related food and beverage products re mained robust, with Malaysia’s processed food exports to Indo nesia rising 18.5% year on-year to US$640 million, driven by cocoa powder, non-dairy creamer, filled milk, chocolate products and flavouring pre parations. Malaysia’s imports

of processed food from Indonesia, meanwhile, increased 10.8% in 2025 to US$840 million, led by coconut milk, cocoa paste, instant noodles and rice vermicelli, he said.

With total trade reaching US$26.61 billion in 2025, up 5.3% from the previous year, he said the strong bilateral trade performance reflects positive progress in cooperation and provides a solid