Govt to start Permata sale by Dec. 10<\/p>\n
Bloomberg,
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Indonesia may start selling a fifth of Bank Permata, the
\nnation's seventh-largest lender, on the stock exchange by Dec.
\n10, seeking to raise funds to further reduce its budget deficit.<\/p>\n
The government expects to sell the stake at Rp 703 a share,
\nthe price paid by Standard Chartered Plc and PT Astra
\nInternational last month for a 51 percent stake, said the asset
\nsale agency. At that price, which marks a 43 percent discount to
\nthe bank's closing share price yesterday, the government would
\nraise Rp 1.08 trillion (US$119.2 million) from the sale.<\/p>\n
\"We're trying to take advantage of the strong momentum on the
\nJakarta Stock Exchange,\" Mohammad Syahrial, chairman of PT
\nPerusahaan Pengelola Aset, the government's asset-sale agency,
\nsaid in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is selling assets, including bank stakes, to raise
\nfunds to cover a deficit estimated at Rp 26.3 trillion this year.
\nDemand for Permata shares may be bolstered by a rally on
\nIndonesia's stock exchange, where the benchmark index rose to a
\nrecord yesterday for the third day and has gained more than 43
\npercent this year.<\/p>\n
Asset sales are also aimed at recouping part of the more than
\nRp 450 trillion the country spent to bail out lenders after the
\n1997 Asian financial crisis.<\/p>\n
Shares of Permata will be offered to domestic and
\ninternational investors, said Raden Pardede, vice president
\ndirector PT Perusahaan Pengelola Aset. The 20 percent stake has a
\nmarket value of Rp 1.93 trillion.<\/p>\n
Standard Chartered, a U.K. lender that makes two-thirds of its
\nprofit in Asia, and Astra International, an Indonesian automobile
\ndistributor, acquired 51 percent of Bank Permata for Rp 2.77
\ntrillion. They paid Rp 703 apiece, or 3.18 times Permata's book
\nvalue of Rp 221 as of the end of 2003, and expressed interest in
\nbuying the additional 20 percent as well.<\/p>\n
\"If they can bid at the best price, we will sell to them,\"
\nsaid Pardede.<\/p>\n
Regina Seow, Standard Chartered spokeswoman in Singapore,
\nwasn't immediately available to comment.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, the government sold a 16.28 percent stake
\nin Bank Niaga to investors for Rp 585.8 billion. Niaga is 52.8
\npercent controlled by Commerce Asset-Holding Bhd., Malaysia's
\nsecond largest lender.<\/p>",
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