Bank Papan's management overhauled after takeover<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The management of the publicly-listed Bank Papan
\nSejahtera underwent a major change yesterday following the
\ncontroversial takeover of the bank's majority stake by obscure
\nlocal businessman Jopie Widjaya.<\/p>\n
A. Asmuadji and Alita Marsanti were re-appointed respectively
\nas the president and the vice president of the bank at the
\nextraordinary meeting of its shareholders, held less than a month
\nafter Jopie and his business associates acquired the majority
\nstake in the bank.<\/p>\n
But two other key executives were replaced by Roekman
\nPrawirasastra, of Bank Internasional Indonesia, and Muhammad
\nAfdhal R. P. Pamilih, of Bank Niaga.<\/p>\n
The new majority shareholder, however, vowed to maintain the
\nbank's core business in home-ownership and property financing,
\ndespite the major change in the management.<\/p>\n
\"The bank's mission to support home-ownership and property
\nfinancing is obviously much stronger,\" Asmuadji said, allaying
\nfears of a shift in the bank's core business after the takeover.<\/p>\n
Asmuadji said that shareholders endorsed the management's
\nproposal to clearly stipulate the business mission in the statute
\nof the bank, which is listed on both the Jakarta and Surabaya
\nstock exchanges.<\/p>\n
\"It is a breakthrough because, previously, the business
\nmission was not contained at all in the bank's statute,\" he said
\nof the management's success in securing approval for a
\ncontinuation of the bank's core financing activities.<\/p>\n
PT Infiniti Wahana, a company owned by Jopie, purchased 22.52
\npercent of the bank's shares last month through the Surabaya
\nStock Exchange. At the same time, Infiniti's seven affiliated
\ncompanies bought a further 29 percent of the bank, giving Jopie,
\nas the single majority shareholder, a 52 percent controlling
\nstake.<\/p>\n
The stock transactions, however, caused public concern.<\/p>\n
Many business analysts have expressed doubts about the
\nfinancial strength of Jopie, the founder and a majority
\nshareholder in PT Steady Safe, a public transportation company
\nlisted on the Surabaya exchange.<\/p>\n
Christianto Wibisono of the PDBI business data center,
\nquestioned, not only Jopie's financial capabilities, but also his
\nbusiness credibility.<\/p>\n
Kwik Kian Gie, another noted analyst, has also raised his
\neyebrows over the acquisition attempt.<\/p>\n
Security analysts claim that the takeover was financed by
\nloans totaling about US$25 million recently raised by Steady Safe
\nin Singapore.<\/p>\n
Jopie denied the charge, adding that there was nothing strange
\nin the transactions and that there were no illegal funds used to
\nfinance the acquisition.<\/p>\n
\"The funds were my own.... they could be from my company,\" he
\ntold reporters after the shareholders' meeting in response to a
\nbarrage of questions over the sources of the money used for the
\ntakeover.<\/p>\n
He also denied the charge that the acquisition was a hostile
\ntakeover, saying that Bank PDFCI, which divested its entire stake
\nin Bank Papan, had offered its stocks to both local and overseas
\ninstitutions long before his company carried out the takeover.<\/p>\n
\"PDFCI's shares were also offered to Astek, Taspen and foreign
\ninstitutions,\" Jopie said, denying that the deal was a case of
\ninsider trading.<\/p>\n
Bank Papan was established in 1980 as a non-bank finance
\ncompany, In 1993 it changed its status and operated as a
\ncommercial bank in order to comply with the new banking law.<\/p>\n
The bank is one the healthiest in the country, with both
\nassets and earnings growing steadily over the past three years.
\nIts total assets nearly doubled last year to Rp 928.82 billion,
\nfrom Rp 457.55 billion in 1993; while its after-tax profit also
\nbooked significant growth to reach Rp 16.90 billion, up from Rp
\n9.51 billion.<\/p>\n
The shareholders' meeting endorsed yesterday the appointment
\nof Jopie and his two business associates, Hidayat Tjandradjaya
\nand Widodo Budidarmo, as new members of the supervisory board.<\/p>\n
The bank's former chief commissioner and three former
\ncommissioners were reappointed. (hen)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bank-papans-management-overhauled-after-takeover-1447893297",
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