Laksamana wants top investor for BCA<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The buyer of the government's majority stake in Bank Central Asia
\n(BCA) must be a strong and reputable bank able to help
\nreinvigorate the country's weak banking industry, State Minister
\nfor State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi has said.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a breaking of the fast gathering with journalists
\nlate Thursday, Laksamana said he did not want to see the 51
\npercent stake in BCA fall into the hands of brokers, who would
\nthen resell the equity to other investors.<\/p>\n
His statement came amid growing fears that BCA's former owner,
\nthe Salim family, was planning to repurchase the country's
\nlargest retail bank through a nominee.<\/p>\n
BCA was nationalized in 1998 at the height of the country's
\nfinancial crisis, which prompted the government to inject the
\nIndonesian banking system with billions of dollars worth of
\nrecapitalization bonds. The bank had lent most of its funds to
\nSalim affiliated companies, thus breaching the legal lending
\nlimit.<\/p>\n
Bank Indonesia had also injected BCA with huge amounts of
\nadditional funds prior to its takeover by the government to help
\nrepay depositors during a massive run on the bank in 1998. The
\nSalim Group has surrendered ownership of 100 companies to the
\nIndonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), which also now
\ncontrols BCA, in order to repay the government. Laksamana's
\noffice oversees IBRA.<\/p>\n
The government is supposed to complete the divestment of its
\nremaining 51 percent stake in BCA before the end of this year,
\nwith a due diligence process for nine shortlisted bidders to be
\ncompleted by Dec. 21.<\/p>\n
But Laksamana indicated that the government might extend the
\nDec. 21 deadline after some bidders, including Standard Chartered
\nBank, which analysts have said is the only reputable bidder,
\nasked for an extra three weeks to complete the job. This means
\nthat the BCA sale may not be completed this year.<\/p>\n
Earlier reports raised fears that, if the government forced
\nbidders to meet the Dec. 21 deadline, only bidders linked to
\nSalim would be able to complete the due diligence process, as
\nthey already had sufficient information on BCA.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Bank Indonesia Governor Sjahril Sabirin was quoted
\nby Detik.com as saying that the central bank would cast a keen
\neye over the BCA sale process to ensure that Salim did not regain
\ncontrol of the bank.<\/p>",
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