Consortium negotiating for troubled Bank Pacific
Consortium negotiating for troubled Bank Pacific
JAKARTA (JP): A consortium comprising the Bakrie, ALatieF and
Pentasena groups is negotiating with the shareholders of troubled
Bank Pacific on the terms for a takeover.
The consortium said Bank Pacific, after being acquired, would
be managed by Bank Nusa International, a Bakrie Group affiliate.
The president of Bank Nusa, Bangun S. Kusmulyono, said the
consortium was waiting for the green light from the central bank,
Bank Indonesia.
"Bank Nusa has been giving advice to the consortium on the
best process to take over the bank. For our part, we are
preparing the management team to manage Bank Pacific," Kusmulyono
said.
He said Bank Indonesia, which is also Bank Pacific's majority
shareholder, had not made any decision about the consortium's
offer to salvage Bank Pacific.
The central bank has 51 percent of Bank Pacific.
The remaining 49 percent is held by the bank's founder Ibnu
Sutowo, the former president of state oil firm Pertamina.
Meanwhile, economist Sjahrir said Bank Indonesia should
liquidate Bank Pacific to minimize losses because all investors
wanting to salvage the bank had asked for facilities from the
central bank, including liquidity credits.
Kusmulyono would not say whether the consortium had asked the
central bank for liquidity credits.
He said the consortium had commitments from Malaysian
investors to provide ample funds to inject fresh life into Bank
Pacific.
The Bakrie group's chairman, Aburizal Bakrie, has said the
consortium would not ask for liquidity credits.
Bank Pacific was on the brink of collapse in late 1995 because
of bad loans and the central bank bailed it out.
The bank's bad loans are estimated at Rp 2.1 trillion (US$876
million). At the end of 1995 its total assets were estimated at
Rp 2.2 trillion.
Most of the bad debts were incurred by PT Pacific
International Finance, a company owned by Endang Utari Mokodompit
-- the bank's former president and Ibnu Sutowo's daughter.
As part of its efforts to salvage Bank Pacific, the central
bank has offered the bank to several investors, including Bank
Danamon, which has experience in acquiring troubled banks.
But Bank Danamon, facing tough opposition form several high-
ranking officials, withdrew from the takeover battle. Bank Nusa
was then called in to help salvage the bank.
Bank Nusa also has experience in helping ailing banks, namely
Bank Nasional. Bank Nasional, which has its main office in Bukit
Tinggi, West Sumatra, is in the process of buying Bank
Perniagaan.
Sources said Bank Indonesia opposed the idea of Bank Nusa,
with total assets of only 1.5 trillion, buying Bank Pacific which
has assets of over Rp 2 trillion, even though most of its assets
were in bad loans.
Bakrie then formed a consortium to take over Bank Pacific
before entrusting Bank Nusa to manage it. (rid)