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)