Artha Graha, Datakom to establish alliance

Artha Graha, Datakom to establish alliance

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed PT Artha Graha Investama Sentral
(AGIS) and PT Datakom Asia (DKA) announced yesterday they would
form an alliance in the multimedia business.

An advisor to PT AGIS, Samuel A. Lorenzo, said that under the
terms of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by
Datakom's president Peter F. Gontha and AGIS' president Irwan
Darmawan Tuesday, DKA would acquire a substantial stake in PT
AGIS.

"On the other hand, AGIS also plans to acquire a substantial
stake in PT Matahari Lintas Cakrawala," he said.

PT Matahari Lintas Cakrawala (Malicak), a subsidiary of PT
Datakom, is the operator of Indovision satellite TV services.

He declined to mention the acquisition value and other terms
of the agreement because both companies were currently in the due
diligence stage.

"We cannot tell you about the acquisition value but hopefully
we will complete the due diligence process by August," he said,
adding the companies were also waiting for the shareholders'
approval for the acquisition.

PT Datakom Asia is the provider of the direct-to-home Pay-TV
and multimedia services under the trade name Indovision.

Datakom also has several other subsidiaries dealing with
different businesses, including PT MediaCitra Indostar (MCI),
which owns and runs Cakrawala satellite, Surya Citra Televisi
(SCTV), a privately-run TV station, Anditirta Indonusa, a TV
cable operator, PT Yasawirya Tama Cipta, a production house, PT
Postindo Promedia Audiovisual, PT Indofinance Perkasa, PT
Indonusa Telemedia and PT Indocall Rintis Buana.

While AGIS is the distributor of the indovision digital
service, RCA digital satellite decoder (DSD) and a number of
electronic products.

It has a nationwide network of more than 1,500 dealers and
outlets.

"Our nationwide network is one of our strong points to form a
strategic alliance with Datakom," Lorenzo said. (aly)