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)