Stanchart, Astra may acquire more Permata stake<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government has appointed the consortium of Britain's Standard
\nChartered Plc. (Stanchart) and PT Astra International as a
\nstandby buyer for its 20 percent stake in publicly listed Bank
\nPermata, in case the sale fails to draw sufficient interest from
\nthe investing public.<\/p>\n
The Permata shares sale is being managed by the Ministry of
\nFinance's asset management company, PT Perusahaan Pengelola Aset
\n(PPA).<\/p>\n
PPA president director Mohammad Syahrial said the appointment
\nof the consortium was basically to avoid a lower share price.<\/p>\n
\"Based on the initial plan, we actually must sell the
\nremaining shares through a market placement scheme. But if we
\nfail to draw public's interest in acquiring the shares, we will
\nstill have the consortium as the standby buyer,\" he said on
\nMonday after meeting with Minister of Finance Boediono.<\/p>\n
The government recently selected the Stanchart-Astra
\nconsortium as the preferred bidder for a 51 percent stake in
\nPermata, the country's seventh largest bank in terms of assets.
\nPPA is planning to sell another 20 percent stake via the stock
\nmarket to raise funds toward financing the state budget.<\/p>\n
The Stanchart-Astra consortium is currently undergoing a fit
\nand proper test conducted by the central bank.<\/p>\n
Syahrial said a lack of public interest in the shares was
\npossible, given the relatively high price of Permata shares under
\nthe offer made by Stanchart-Astra.<\/p>\n
The consortium's offer valued the bank at 3.18 times its
\nDecember 2003 book value -- equivalent to 2.73 times its June
\n2004 value -- which Boediono regards as well above the recorded
\naverage for previous bank divestments, even on a global scale.<\/p>\n
\"If we can't get a higher or at least a similar price for the
\nremaining shares, it would be better to sell them to the standout
\nbuyer,\" said Syahrial.<\/p>\n
Stanchart Indonesia chief executive director Stewart D. Hall
\ntold The Jakarta Post recently that the consortium was interested
\nin acquiring more stakes in the bank.<\/p>\n
\"If the opportunity arises to increase our equity stake as a
\nconsortium, we would like to (take it),\" he said.<\/p>\n
Syahrial added that there was no fixed schedule yet as to when
\nthe shares sale would be conducted, as this depended on the next
\ngovernment.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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