Telkom resumes talks with Ariawest<\/p>\n
Debbie A. Lubis, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
State-owned telecommunications company PT Telkom said on
\nMonday that it had resumed negotiations with Ariawest
\nInternational and was hopeful of an out of court settlement in
\nthe dispute over the buyout of Ariawest shares.<\/p>\n
\"We had held negotiations with the shareholders (of Ariawest)
\nwhile the arbitration process was still going on. We hope we can
\nachieve a solution before the arbitration process is finished,\"
\nTelkom investor relations manager Setyawan Sulistyono told The
\nJakarta Post.<\/p>\n
AriaWest filed charges against Telkom with an international
\narbitration panel in Geneva in May last year. The move had
\nblocked negotiation efforts to resolve dispute between the two
\nsides.<\/p>\n
Ariawest is Telkom's former joint operation scheme (KSO)
\npartner to develop telecommunications networks in West Java and
\nBanten provinces (KSO III region) for a 15-year period. The
\ncontract was signed in 1995.<\/p>\n
But the KSO project was forced to end prematurely as a
\nconsequence of the government plan to end Telkom's monopoly in
\nproviding fixed-line services to help create a more competitive
\natmosphere in the telecommunications industry.<\/p>\n
The dispute started when Telkom failed to make a buyout of
\nAriawest shares in the KSO due to differences over the share
\nvalue.<\/p>\n
AriaWest is 52.5 percent owned by Indonesia's PT Artimas
\nKencana Murni, 35 percent by U.S.-based MediaOne International
\nBV, of which American telecom AT&T is a part and 12.5 percent by
\nHong Kong's Asian Infrastructure Fund.<\/p>\n
Ariawest agreed last year to cut the value of its shares to
\nUS$735 million from $1.3 billion, but Telkom still insisted on
\nfurther reducing the value to $260 million.<\/p>\n
Ariawest said that Telkom's price offer was still very low
\neven when compared to the valuation made by ABN Amro and the
\nstate-owned securities firm PT Danareksa at $673 million and $522
\nmillion respectively.<\/p>\n
Ariawest is just one of Telkom's five KSO partners.<\/p>\n
Telkom reached a $425 million buy out deal with its Sumatra
\nKSO partner PT Pramindo Ikat Nusantara in February after ten
\nmonths of negotiation.<\/p>\n
Last year, Telkom also bought shares in PT Dayamitra
\nTelekomunikasi, its partner responsible for the development of
\nfixed-line telecommunications in Kalimantan, for $122 million.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/telkom-resumes-talks-with-ariawest-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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