Bahana, Danareksa to merge

Bahana, Danareksa to merge

JAKARTA (JP): The government will merge state-owned investment
companies PT Bahana Pembinaan Usaha and PT Danareksa into an
independent entity to boost efficiency, a source said yesterday.

Witjaksono Abadiman, the president of PT Bahana Securities,
one of BPU's subsidiaries, said the companies, which both operate
in securities underwriting, brokerages and fund management
services, were currently working on the plan.

"We are currently in a preliminary stage of studying the
merger plan," he said without elaborating.

The planned merger is part of the government's program to
restructure the country's state-owned companies, he added. (aly)