Bimantara in Talks to Sell Mobile Stake; Shares Surge

Bimantara in Talks to Sell Mobile Stake; Shares Surge

Bloomberg
Jakarta

PT Bimantara Citra, which owns Indonesia's fourth-largest mobile-
phone operator, said it's in final talks to sell a stake in the
unit. Bimantara shares jumped to an eight-month high.

Unit PT Mobile-8 Telecom is seeking a partner to help it
expand its business, Bimantara Director Alexander Edwin
Kawilarang said on Monday in a telephone interview from the
company's Jakarta headquarters. He didn't give details about
price or the identity of the prospective buyer.

"We are negotiating," Kawilarang said. "We will make a
disclosure when we sign a deal."

PT Telekomunikasi Selular (Telkomsel) and PT Indosat, the
largest and the second-largest mobile-phone operators
respectively, control more than four-fifths of the nation's
cellular market. Mobile-8 has about 1 million users, according to
the company's Web site, giving it a 2.3 percent market share in a
nation where less than a quarter of the 238 million population
have phone access.

"Bimantara may be able to sell the stake at a premium as the
business has a promising outlook," said Suherman Santikno, an
analyst at PT Indo Premier Securities in Jakarta. "Bimantara will
benefit from the sale because the unit still reports losses."

Bimantara shares jumped 15 percent to Rp 2,525 each at the 12
p.m. local time break on the Jakarta Stock Exchange, set for the
highest close since March 15. At the closing, its shares jumped
Rp 300, or 14 percent, to Rp 2,500, its highest close since March
22.