Bank Mandiri raises $125m from overseas market

Bank Mandiri raises $125m from overseas market

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

State-owned Bank Mandiri successfully sold US$125 million of
five-year floating rate euro bonds on Thursday, marking the first
overseas bond issue by a government-owned firm since the 1997
financial crisis.

The bank said in a press statement that the transaction was
oversubscribed with 21 investors participating from Indonesia,
Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Europe and the United Kingdom.

It said that the notes, with three-year put and call options,
were rated B- by Standard & Poor's, two notches above the
Indonesian sovereign.

President and CEO of Bank Mandiri ECW Neloe praised the
execution of the issue, saying: "This is a ground-breaking
transaction for both the bank and Indonesia.

"This marks the return of the Indonesian government's risk to
the international investor community after an absense of nearly
five years."

Bank Mandiri used a Hong Kong branch of the Hong Kong and
Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) as mediator for the
transaction.

Nick Green, HSBC Head of Investment Banking and Markets in
Jakarta also welcomed the issue, saying it should serve well to
revive investors's confidence in the country.

Analysts said that the success story could encourage other
cash-strapped Indonesian corporations to tap funds from the
international market.

Set up in 1998 through the merger of poorly performing state-
owned banks, Bank Mandiri is currently the country's largest bank
with a total assets of Rp 236.6 trillion (some $23 billion), as
of September, the equivalent of around 23 percent of total assets
of the country's banking system.

It also employs more than 17,000 people across the country and
has 719 ATMs (Automatic Teller Machines) serving more than six
million customers.