'Astra's shareholding should remain diversified'

'Astra's shareholding should remain diversified'

JAKARTA (JP): Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono said
yesterday that the government would prefer the shareholding of PT
Astra International to remain diversified and not be accumulated
in the hands of certain business groups or families.

"It is better for Astra to remain a public company whose share
ownership is dominated by the investing public," Moerdiono told
reporters yesterday.

Moerdiono was asked by reporters to comment on the controversy
of the Astra "takeover" in which PT Nusantara Ampera Bhakti
(Nusamba) is also rumored to be a potential new large investor.

Nusamba is a diversified business group controlled by three
foundations headed by President Soeharto.

Astra is the only listed company which is no longer controlled
by its founders or by any single majority shareholder, with its
largest shareholder, PT Delta Mustika, holding only a 10.5
percent stake.

But speculation on whether Astra could maintain its current
diversified stockholder position is questionable considering the
rumors that several parties, including tobacco tycoon Putera
Sampoerna and Nusamba, might want to become Astra's single
majority shareholder.

Putera has disclosed that as of Sep. 24, he has already
acquired 9.8 percent of Astra's shares.

Meanwhile, a Nusamba commissioner, Mohamad (Bob) Hasan, said
last week that the company is willing to buy Astra shares
presently owned by state-owned banks and pension funds. These
total around 10 percent of the total stock.

Moerdiono, however, clarified that Nusamba has no intention of
controlling Astra.

"I don't think so (that Nusamba is preparing to become a
majority shareholder)," he noted.

He also said that the government prefers diversified share
ownership because the distribution of shares is in line with the
government's policy to reduce social diversity.

Therefore, according to Moerdiono, the government hopes that
in the long run, all companies in the country, not only the big
ones, will go public.

Unchanged

Astra shares were traded actively yesterday on the Jakarta
Stock Exchange with approximately 45 million shares changing
hands but their price closed unchanged at Rp 4,250 (US$1.81)
after hitting a high of Rp 4,650.

"I'm not so sure whether Nusamba has begun to buy (Astra
shares)" a dealer with a Japanese-based brokerage told The
Jakarta Post.

"But I could say that the market reacted negatively to a big
deal by Danamon Securities and Finan Corpindo, a brokerage house
owned by Sampoerna, because the transaction was executed at a
price of only Rp 4,000 per share," he said.

He said that the Danamon deal surprised investors because the
price was not as high as expected. "The deal then triggered a lot
of selling by local investors and therefore pushed down the share
price."

The dealer said that market players were also wondering who
was behind Danamon's purchasing of around 39 million shares.
(alo)