Bukit Asam to offer 346.5m IPO shares

Bukit Asam to offer 346.5m IPO shares

Dow Jones, Jakarta

Indonesia's state-owned coal miner PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam said Monday it will sell 346.5 million shares Dec. 11-13 in an initial public offering.

The shares will include 315 million of the government's shares in the company and 31.5 million new shares.

The IPO shares represent 15 percent of the company's enlarged equity, Bukit Asam said in a statement.

The company hasn't set the IPO price for the shares, which have nominal value of Rp 500 (5.4 U.S. cents) each.

Bukit Asam will give one warrant for every two shares bought. The warrant holders will be entitled to buy the company's shares at a yet-to-be-determined price from May 26, 2003 to Dec. 19, 2005.

Most the proceeds will go to the state's coffers to help finance the state budget. The remainder will be used as working capital, Bukit Asam said, without specifying figures.

The shares are expected to be mostly bought by state-owned pension funds.

Bukit Asam, which has large coal mining site in West Sumatra, booked net profit of Rp 112.2 billion in the first half of the year ended June 30, up 78 percent from Rp 63.1 billion in the year-earlier period.

Bukit Asam had planned to offer 35 percent of its shares in the IPO, but reduced the amount following the Oct. 12 bombings on Bali island, which damaged market sentiment.