Deadline set for Dharmala

Deadline set for Dharmala

JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta Commercial Court gave on Wednesday
two more weeks to listed holding company PT Dharmala Sakti
Sejahtera to restructure US$180 million in debts with its
creditors or face a bankruptcy verdict.

"The majority of creditors will decide by the end of May
whether to approve Dharmala Sakti's debt restructuring proposal,"
Judge Syamsudin Manan Sinaga said, adding that a rejection would
send the company to a bankruptcy status.

Dharmala Sakti has a number of creditors, including PT Hanil
Bakrie Finance, which took it to the bankruptcy court in mid-
February for failure to pay debts worth US$2.4 million.

In March, the court gave Dharmala two months to restructure
its debt with its creditors, but no agreement was reached up to
Wednesday's deadline.

Dharmala Sakti is a holding company of the Dharmala Group's
financial services business.

There are at least three companies affiliated to the Dharmala
Group which have been declared bankrupt, namely, PT Dharmala
Agrifood, PT Putra Surya Multidana and foreign affiliate Detron
Ltd. of Singapore.

Another company, PT Aster Dharma, was also declared bankrupt,
but the verdict was overturned late last year by the Supreme
Court through its civil review process. (udi)