Chandra Asri deal not final: Prijadi

Chandra Asri deal not final: Prijadi

JAKARTA (Reuters): Indonesian Finance Minister Prijadi
Praptosuhardjo said on Monday a debt deal for petrochemical giant
PT Chandra Asri was still subject to change even though it has
been approved by the powerful state financial sector policy
committee (KKSK).

Chandra Asri owes about $730 million to a consortium of
creditors, led by Japan's Marubeni Corp, and about three trillion
rupiah ($262.2 million) to Indonesia's bank restructuring agency
(IBRA) -- a state body under the financial sector commitee's
supervision.
" About this Chandra Asri deal, it's not final...(it) can still
change, so I have to first see which one is finally agreed by all
parties before I can give my approval," Prijadi told reporters
without elaborating.

Local media have recently reported IBRA is unhappy with some
of the terms of the deal, mainly over a debt to equity swap.
Under the proposed deal, IBRA will have to swap most of Chandra
Asri's debt into equity, keeping only $50 million as debt.
The financial committee, which is chaired by chief economics
minister Rizal Ramli, last month approved the Chandra Asri deal.

But final approval rests with Prijadi.

The deal has been on the negotiating table for almost a year
with the original restructuring agreed in June 2000.
Under the latest terms, a large part of Chandra Asri's debt will
be rescheduled for 15 years with an interest rate of 1.5
percentage points above the London Interbank Offered Rate
(Libor).

Marubeni earlier this month agreed to the financial sector
policy committee's debt restructuring proposal.