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)