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