Commerce to respond to Niaga higher price
Commerce to respond to Niaga higher price
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Malaysian Commerce Asset Holdings Bhd on Monday would respond
to the demands to raise its bid for a 51 percent stake in Bank
Niaga to Rp 35 (about 0.38 U.S. cents) a share, said an official
of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA).
"They (Commerce) will certainly come up with something
(response) for the meeting by Monday," said IBRA's Bank
Restructuring Unit chairman, I Nyoman Sender on Friday.
He said IBRA had asked Commerce representatives in a meeting
on Thursday night to raise its offered price from Rp 26.5 a
share.
Under the request of the House of Representatives, he said,
the agency aimed for a price range of twice the value of Bank
Niaga's book value of Rp 15 to Rp 17 a share.
"It's not a new price but we want them to raise their bid to a
range of around Rp 30 to Rp 35," Nyoman said.
The Malaysian investor is reportedly the only bidder left out
of four, having bid the highest among them.
Earlier, State Minister for State Enterprises Laksamana
Sukardi had called the offered Rp 26.5 price a realistic one.
But the House of Representatives's Commission IX, which
oversees financial affairs, has blocked the sale, demanding IBRA
to negotiate for a higher price.
In June legislators blocked IBRA's first auction of Bank Niaga
shares also on complaints over low bids.
"We'll tell Commerce this is the demand of our biggest
stakeholders," Nyoman said referring to the legislators.
He added IBRA would be "flexible" on its sales and purchase
agreement in return for Commerce agreeing to the higher price.
IBRA chairman Syafruddin Temenggung refused to answer on the
meeting he had with one of Commerce's top executive on Thursday
night.
"I will first report to Commission IX....we (Commerce and
IBRA) are in discussions, the negotiations are continuing," he
said.
The government owns a 97 percent stake in Bank Niaga after
IBRA injected it with recapitalization bonds to save the bank
from collapsing during the 1997 economic crisis.
IBRA has also began selling up to a 20 percent stake in Bank
Niaga at the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) market.