Bidders for Lippo "not credible": IBRA

Bidders for Lippo "not credible": IBRA

JAKARTA: The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) said
it isn't likely to go ahead with its plan to sell a 52 percent
stake in PT Bank Lippo as the three consortia bidding for the
bank's stake are "not credible," with none of them led by a large
commercial bank.

IBRA Chairman Syafruddin Temenggung said late Tuesday that the
agency has asked each consortium to include a new large and
credible commercial bank to lead the bidding.

Syafruddin said IBRA will give the consortia until Oct. 23 to
do so. "Otherwise we won't insist on selling (the stake)," he
said. "Each consortium only consists of small banks. We want a
credible partner that can develop Bank Lippo."

IBRA had planned to name the winning bidder early next month.

The agency last month received preliminary non-binding bids
from three consortia for the Bank Lippo stake.

The first consortium is Eurocapital Asia Ltd., which includes
the Philippines' Export and Industry Bank, among others. The
second, Summit Investment Ltd., includes Asia Financial Holdings
Ltd. and Platinum Investments Holdings Ltd. The third is
Swissasia Global, which includes Swissfirst Bank AG and VP
Ventures Ltd. -- Dow Jones

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Indosat-bonds-coupon
Indosat sets bond coupons, raises size
JP/14/brief

Indosat sets bond coupons, raises size

JAKARTA: PT Indonesian Satellite Corp., or Indosat, has raised
the size of its planned bond offering to Rp 2.5 trillion from Rp
1.75 trillion due to good demand, sources said.

Five-year tranche of the issue at 12.5 percent and the coupon
for the seven-year tranche at 12.875 percent, the sources told
Dow Jones.

Indosat had previously indicated the five-year tranche would
carry a coupon of 12.25-12.75 percent and the seven-year tranche
12.50%-13.00 percent.

The bonds will be sold at par.

Indosat decided to increase the size of the bond offering
after it received around Rp 3.3 trillion in orders during its
recent book building, the sources said.

Local ratings agency Pefindo has assigned an AA+ rating to the
paper, reflecting the firm's "strong capacity to meet its long-
term financial commitments." -- Dow Jones