Bimantara secures $45 million loan

Bimantara secures $45 million loan

JAKARTA (JP): PT Bimantara Citra, a publicly-listed
conglomerate controlled by President Soeharto's second son
Bambang Trihatmodjo, yesterday signed a three-year international
syndicated loan of US$45 million.

Bimantara's finance director, Kadir Assegaf, said after the
signing ceremony that the loan will be used to repay part of the
company's working capital loans.

He declined to say which of the company's loans would be
repaid, saying only that "it's a moral obligation not to name the
banks which set higher interest rates on their lending."

Kadir said the interest rate on yesterday's loan is set at 1.9
points above the one-year London Inter-bank Offered Rate (LIBOR),
which is considered low-cost for the company.

"It's also interesting that the new loan has been made without
collateral -- otherwise known as a "clean loan" -- because those
banks are confident of Bimantara's performance," Kadir added.

International syndication usually requires collateral in the
form of shares, fixed assets or shareholder guarantees.

Kadir added that a strong cash flow position and prospective
profitability positioned Bimantara well in obtaining the loan.

He said that the syndication is made up of 11 international
banks led by the Singapore branch of Banque Paribas.

The other ten syndication banks are the Singapore branch of
BHF-Bank Aktiengessellschaft, Bayerische Landesbank Girozentrale,
Hua Nan Commercial Bank, Malayan Banking Berhad,
American Express Bank Ltd., Central Trust of China-Offshore
Banking Branch, Chinatrust Commercial Bank, E.Sun Commercial
Bank, Ta Chong Bank and Tat Lee Bank. (alo)