Bimantara's shares oversubscribed

JAKARTA (JP): PT Bimantara Citra, a holding company controlled by President Soeharto's second son Bambang Trihatmodjo, yesterday announced a 24-time oversubscription of its initial public offering.

The company's vice president, Rosana Barack, said that the foreign-portion offering enjoyed an oversubscription of 45 times, while the local-portion offering was oversubscribed by 3.8 times.

"Keen foreign demand is an indication of the strength of Bimantara's fundamentals and is expected to boost the secondary market," Barack said in a statement.

Bimantara, whose core business includes media and broadcasting, telecommunications, transportation and automotive assembly, chemical industry, hotel and property as well as financial and investment services, has just offered 200 million shares, which represent 19.66 percent of its enlarged capital.

The shares, each with a par value of Rp 500 (22.47 U.S. cents), were offered at Rp 1,250 each. The shares will be listed on both the Surabaya and Jakarta Stock Exchanges on July 17.

Bambang said in a presentation last May that if the new shares were highly oversubscribed, the existing shareholders would be ready to divest by selling their shares to the public to meet the high demand. (rid)