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)