Going public won't affect Telkom management: Setyanto

Going public won't affect Telkom management: Setyanto

BANDUNG, West Java (JP): Chief Executive of PT Telekomunikasi
Indonesia (Telkom) Setyanto Prawira Santosa ensures that foreign
investors holding the company's shares will not affect its
management and policy after the share sales planned for next
month.

Setyanto said in his last road-show presentation on the
company's privatization program here over the weekend that the
firm's statutes do not allow the changing of its policy and
management, particularly its boards of executives and
commissioners, without approval from the holder of its golden
shares, called Series A shares.

He said the government will keep the firm's golden shares,
which represent one percent of total shares.

"The statute stipulates that any decision and changing of
management should get approval from the holder of the golden
shares," he said.

The Bandung-based Telkom, which will sell its shares to the
public domestically and overseas next month, conducted domestic
road-shows in Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, Semarang and Bandung last
week to promote the share sales.

Overseas road-shows will be held in New York, London and Tokyo
at the end of this month.

The shares will be listed on stock exchanges in New York,
London, Jakarta and Surabaya. They will also be offered in Tokyo
without being listed there.

Telkom expects to collect about Rp 6 trillion (US$2.6 billion)
from the share offering, of which 39 percent will be used to
finance network expansion and modernization and the installation
of submarine fiber optic lines connecting areas in the eastern
part of the country.

Setyanto confirmed that the money to be raised from the share
sales will not be used to repay debts.

"Telkom will repay its long-term foreign loans with its
operational revenues, not with the money to be generated from the
share sales," said Setyanto.

The company's director of finance, Moelyohardjoko,
acknowledged at the presentation here that Telkom owes Rp 580
billion to domestic creditors.

A source said that Telkom plans to float about 25 percent of
its shares overseas and another 10 percent domestically next
month. (pet/kod)