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.