Bakrie raises $27m loan

JAKARTA (JP): The publicly-listed PT Bakrie Sumatra Plantations yesterday raised a syndicated revolving credit of US$27 million arranged by the Singapore branch of HSBC Investment Bank Asia Ltd. of Hong Kong.

A. Hanif Bakri, president of Bakrie Sumatra, said after signing an agreement on the syndicated facility that $22 million of the total fund would be used to finance its palm oil plantation development and the rest to repay its short-term bank borrowing.

Hanif said the facility, which carries an interest rate of 2.5 percent per annum above the Singapore Inter-Bank Offered Rate (SIBOR), would mature after three years with an option by the banks to renew for another two years thereafter.

He added that the facility was collateralized by his company's palm oil plantations and properties as well as by his rubber plantations.

Bakrie Sumatra, which has been listed on both the Jakarta and Surabaya Stock Exchanges since 1990, controls 13,000 palm oil plantations, mostly in North Sumatra.

At its annual shareholder meeting last Thursday, the company reported that it would acquire a 11,000-hectare palm oil plantation in West Kalimantan. (rid)