James Guthrie was born in Tannadice in Angus in 1814, son of Alexander's brother David and his wife, Katharine Grant.

The takeover allowed Malaysia to return ownership of some 200,000 acres (800 km2) of agricultural land back to Malaysians.

The corridor comprised four estates, from Bukit Jelutong in Shah Alam to Lagong in Rawang.

Some of its estates became property land, with Bukit Jelutong becoming an integrated township and Lagong becoming a satellite city.

[5] In 1997, Guthrie began installing central monitoring systems – an electronic alarm system linking each house with a police station – on its houses and commercial buildings, including the Guthrie Corridor.

[7] With the government investment company Pemodalan Nasional Berhad being the largest single shareholder, the government merged Guthrie with Sime Darby and Golden Hope plantation to form a new entity named Synergy Drive, later renamed Sime Darby.

Guthrie Group has plantation estates in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah, and northern Sumatra and West Kalimantan (Borneo) in Indonesia.