Pre-qualification for Indosat bid to start<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government is moving ahead with plans to
\nfurther divest its holding in the publicly listed international
\ntelecommunications provider PT Indosat, with the pre-
\nqualification process for potential strategic investors to start
\non Saturday.<\/p>\n
The office of the State Minister of the Empowerment of State
\nEnterprises said on Friday that the privatization process was
\nexpected to be completed in June 1999.<\/p>\n
It has appointed Goldman Sachs, and state-owned securities
\nfirms PT Bahana and PT Danareksa as the financial advisors for
\nIndosat's privatization.<\/p>\n
The statement did not say how many shares the government would
\nsell, but state minister Tanri Abeng said in the middle of this
\nmonth that it would only divest 15 percent in the current fiscal
\nyear, ending in March.<\/p>\n
The government holds 65 percent of Indosat, which went public
\nin 1994 and is currently listed on the Jakarta and New York Stock
\nExchanges.<\/p>\n
Indosat is currently in the process of acquiring several
\nrelated businesses to boost its value prior to the sale.<\/p>\n
The government is planning to partially privatize 10 state-
\nowned companies in the current fiscal year to help finance the
\nstate budget.<\/p>\n
The initial target was to sell 12 state-owned companies to
\nraise US$1.5 billion, but the ministers subsequently reversed the
\ndecision, citing the current bearish market conditions and
\nregulatory obstacles as the main reasons.<\/p>\n
The government raised some $114.6 million from the first
\nprivatization deal late last month, in which it sold 14 percent
\nof publicly listed cement maker PT Semen Gresik to Mexico's Cemex
\nSA de CV.<\/p>\n
In addition to Indosat, other state-owned companies in the
\nmining and plantation sectors are being prepared to follow Semen
\nGresik, including publicly listed tin giant PT Tambang
\nTimah. (rei)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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