Bahana gets role in KPC sale

Bahana gets role in KPC sale

JAKARTA: The government said on Wednesday it had appointed
state-owned securities firm PT Bahana Sekuritas as its financial
consultant to decide on the value of coal-mining firm PT Kaltim
Prima Coal's (KPC) shares.

Secretary-general of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral
Resources Djoko Darmono said that Bahana would hold talks with
KPC's consultant, Salomon Smith Barney, over the share price.

"We hope they can reach a deal on the price in the middle of
February," he told The Jakarta Post.

KPC is obliged to sell a 51 percent stake to local investors.
The divestment program was supposed to be complete last year, but
has been delayed to March 2002, due to differences between the
government and KPC over the price of the share.

KPC's valuation of its 51 percent stake is much higher than
the US$309.94 million calculated by the Ministry of Energy and
Mineral Resources.

The East Kalimantan administration, which has been given the
first choice to purchase the shares, had calculated a price of
$319 million for the 51 percent stake. --JP