LONDON (Reuters) - Papua New Guinea palm oil producer New Britain Palm Oil (>> New Britain Palm Oil Limited) said on Thursday it had received a 1.07 billion pounds ($1.73 billion) takeover offer from Malaysia's Sime Darby (>> Sime Darby Berhad) (>> Sime Darby Berhad).

New Britain said Sime Darby was offering 7.15 pounds a share, adding that this represented "an attractive premium to recent trading levels".

It said its independent board committee intends to unanimously recommend that New Britain shareholders accept the offer, which Sime Darby said earlier on Thursday would be funded by cash and credit.

New Britain added that Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister has written to Sime Darby acknowledging that Sime Darby is keen to make an offer for it and reiterating that the proposed acquisition will not be contrary to Papua New Guinea's national interest.

Sime Darby's offer is subject to certain conditions, including a minimum acceptance condition of 51 percent, no material adverse change to New Britain and certain regulatory approvals.

(Reporting by James Davey; editing by Sarah Young)

Stocks treated in this article : New Britain Palm Oil Limited, Sime Darby Berhad