Debate on Salim Group's move continues<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government sees the Salim Group's plans to
\nsell Indocement's 50.1 percent stake in the world's largest
\nnoodle-maker to a Singapore-based bread-maker, QAF Ltd., as
\nbeneficial to the shareholders, a senior official said yesterday.<\/p>\n
"The government foresees an added shareholder value from the
\nproposed divestment," said Bacelius Ruru, the director general
\nfor the supervision of state-owned enterprises at the Ministry of
\nFinance yesterday.<\/p>\n
He said the transaction, to be proposed to an extraordinary
\nshareholders meeting next month, would lead the government to own
\n10.18 percent of PT Indofood Sukses Makmur (ISM) while retaining
\nits 25.7 percent ownership of PT Indocement Tunggal Perkasa.<\/p>\n
"But you should not interpret my views as the reflection of
\ngovernment endorsement of the proposed asset restructuring
\nbecause it will have to be decided at the shareholders meeting
\nnext month," Ruru told reporters after closing a training course
\nat the finance ministry.<\/p>\n
"This is strictly my personal view, which has yet to be
\nconveyed to the finance minister (the government nominee
\nshareholder in all state-owned companies and other firms partly
\nowned by the government)," he said.<\/p>\n
The Salim family and associates control both publicly listed
\nIndofood and Indocement, which each account for 3.5 percent of
\nthe Jakarta stock market capitalization.<\/p>\n
The planned asset shuffling has, however, been drawing fire
\nfrom House members, and some analysts see the transaction as the
\nrelocation of Indofood's assets to Singapore.<\/p>\n
However, noted businessmen Probosutedjo, who is President
\nSoeharto's half-brother, expressed great concern yesterday over
\nthe Salim Group's move, saying that one should not promote one's
\nbusiness interests at the expense of Indonesia's dignity.<\/p>\n
"I say this because this tycoon (Sudono Salim) is known by
\nforeign and domestic businesspeople as being very close to
\nPresident Soeharto," Probosutedjo was quoted by Antara as saying.<\/p>\n
Probosutedjo, chairman of the widely diversified Mercu Buana
\nGroup, said Salim should have carefully thought about the good
\nname of the national leader (Soeharto) before making this
\ncorporate decision.<\/p>\n
Probosutedjo saw the sales of Indofood to QAF in Singapore as
\na capital flight and an act of tax evasion because QAF is
\ncontrolled by Indofood's majority shareholders.<\/p>\n
Some other analysts also saw Salim's move as a disturbing
\nsignal to foreign investors.<\/p>\n
Ruru said his view should not be taken as a stance, which pays
\nmore attention to the interests of shareholders rather than
\nnational interests.<\/p>\n
He also argued that the injection of Indofood to Singapore-
\nlisted QAF Ltd. should not hastily be seen as a capital flight.<\/p>\n
"We are now in a global economy, where the registration or
\nlisting of a company in a country other than its home base has
\nbecome a trend," Ruru noted.<\/p>\n
"That's the way we are looking at the case right now," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Under the proposed complex deal, Indocement will spin off and
\nsell its 50.1 percent stake in Indofood by way of giving most of
\nits Indofood shares to existing shareholders as a special
\ndividend and selling the remaining stake to the Sampoerna family,
\nwhich currently owns 5.63 percent of the noodle producer.<\/p>\n
After that, the tiny Singapore-based bread-maker would acquire
\nthe Salim Group's shares in Indofood through PT Marga Lestari
\nAbadi (a Salim company), in addition to the Indofood stake it
\nwould buy directly from the Sampoerna family.<\/p>\n
This would lead QAF, which is 70 percent owned by the Salim
\nGroup, into a 50.1 percent ownership of Indofood.<\/p>\n
To finance the acquisition, estimated at US$1.9 billion, the
\nSingapore-listed firm will issue rights shares.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the Capital Market Supervisory Agency, I Putu Gede
\nAry Suta, confirmed on Wednesday that Indocement had sent the
\nasset restructuring proposal documents to the agency last week.<\/p>\n
"We are studying the documents right now ... and we have not
\ncome up with any decision yet," he told reporters Wednesday,
\nafter addressing a seminar on Asset Securitization. (aly)<\/p>\n
Editorial -- Page 4<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/debate-on-salim-groups-move-continues-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }