Aqua's delisting plan turned down

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After holding its second extraordinary shareholders' meeting this year, bottled water producer Aqua Golden Mississippi once again failed to gain approval for its plan to delist from the Jakarta capital market.

"Our second extraordinary meeting failed to reach the minimum number of shareholders' required to reach a decision," corporate secretary Yanie Setionegoro said on Friday.

She added that the company's board of directors would probably consider having a third meeting, with the schedule to be decided later on.

Aqua had its first meeting to seek approval for the delisting plan earlier in November. That meeting also failed to reach quorum.

Several of its retail shareholders, holding a combined 6.4 percent stake in the company, objected to the proposed offer amount of Rp 100,000 (about US$10) offered for each share they held.

The Rp 100,000 offer was already almost double the book value based on a calculation by an independent appraisal firm.

Indonesian Investor Society secretary general Djoko Santoso Soeno, who claimed to represent a significant number of shareholders, said after the first meeting that the amount offered should be increased tenfold as Aqua was already a well- known brand that has an attractive business outlook.

"There is an intangible value to the brand that should be appreciated," he said.

"Furthermore, it might be better that it stays as a publicly- listed company."

Aqua president director Willy Sidharta explained that delisting the company from the Jakarta Stock Exchange had to be done in a bid to consolidate its holding company's business portfolio.

PT Tirta Investama, Aqua's holding company, has around 14 subsidiaries, of which only two were still publicly listed.

The planned delisting is in line with the policy of its French-based majority shareholder Danone, which controls more than 70 percent stake in Tirta Investama.

Aqua entered the Jakarta capital market in 1990 and its stock had been steadily climbing since, although deemed as a non-liquid stock as most of its shareholders were long-term investors.