Bakrie looks to debt restructuring deal

Bakrie looks to debt restructuring deal

JAKARTA (JP): Conglomerate PT Bakrie & Brothers expects to
reach a debt restructuring agreement with its foreign and
domestic creditors by January, a key company official said on
Monday.

Bakrie managing director and corporate operation official
Nalin Rathod said nine subsidiaries with debts equivalent to
about US$1.2 billion had made restructuring proposals to more
than 150 bank creditors.

"We expect to reach a deal in December and January," he told
reporters on the sidelines of a two-day conference on debt
restructuring.

About 1,200 participants representing mostly local debtors and
foreign creditors attended the first day of the Jakarta
Initiative Conference.

Rathod said the publicly listed group would decide whether to
enter the Indonesian Debt Restructuring Agency (INDRA) when a
restructuring deal was agreed upon.

INDRA was launched in August by the government to provide a
framework for corporate overseas debt settlement, including
providing the hard currency.

Rathod declined to say whether the group was seeking debt
forgiveness from creditors. He stated: "We're committed to fully
paying our debts."

He added that the group ceased paying interest rates in
January until a restructuring agreement was reached.

Asked if Bakrie objected to the demand from foreign creditors
for full disclosure of information, he replied: "We don't have a
problem with that."

Publicly listed Bakrie & Brothers' interests cover
telecommunications, plantations, finance and steel manufacturing.

The Jakarta Initiative debt restructuring task force organized
the conference to encourage debtors and creditors to elect for an
out-of-court debt settlement process over litigation. (rei)