Golkar, Kadin against Kanindotex acquisition

Golkar, Kadin against Kanindotex acquisition

JAKARTA (JP): The ruling political group Golkar and the
Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) have declared
their opposition to the planned acquisition of a troubled textile
mill by the owner of Bimantara Group and a former Salim Group
executive.

Fahmi Idris, a Golkar executive who is also a leading
businessman, said Monday night: "Golkar is urging the government
to warrant the majority shares of PT Kanindotex, the owner of the
textile mill, to its present caretaker -- the Federation of
Indonesian Batik Cooperatives (GKBI)."

GKBI, a Golkar-affiliated organization, was assigned by the
government last September to take over the management of
Kanindotex for a three-year period.

The firm is owned by former convict Robby Tjahjadi, who is now
a major Golkar donor. Kanindotex is reported to have incurred bad
debts of around Rp 500 billion (about US$225 million) to two
state-owned banks.

Recent news reports cited that former Salim director Johannes
Kotjo has teamed up with Bambang Trihatmodjo, one of President
Soeharto's sons, who heads the Bimantara conglomerate, to acquire
a 90 percent stake of the troubled, but sizable, textile mill.

Kotjo and Bambang, who is also Golkar's treasurer, signed a
memorandum of understanding with Kanindotex's main creditors last
week. Robby Tjahjadi reportedly supports the move.

Kadin chairman Aburizal Bakrie, who accompanied Fahmi at the
occasion Monday night, also said: "The chamber supports GKBI
because it is about time that cooperatives play a bigger role in
the economy."

"GKBI should control Kanindotex 100 percent," Bakrie added.

Noorbasha, GKBI's president, said recently that the federation
had increased the firm's net sales to Rp 115 billion per month in
addition to having scored a profit of Rp 24.5 billion in the last
four months.

Despite the apparent improvement, Kanindotex's financial
burdens have increased, Noorbasha said.

He said that the firm's outstanding debts (loan principal and
interests) to its creditors had grown to over Rp 936 billion,
excluding the Rp 70 billion in fresh debts incurred by GKBI in
the early stages of the rescue program.

Acquisition

Robby, Kotjo and Bambang were not available for comment
yesterday.

Kotjo and Bambang acquired a 70 percent stake in Kanindotex's
listed subsidiary, Mayatexdian, last month, though the buyers
refuse to disclose the terms.

Their plan to acquire Kanindotex, however, was opposed by
GKBI, which has announced its desire to acquire the textile mill.

The Kanindotex issue erupted last year after a parliamentary
investigation, led by a Golkar legislator, revealed that Robby
had failed to honor its debts.

The legislator, Bambang Warih Koesoemo -- who was fired this
week for purportedly deviating from official lines -- also
accused Robby of manipulating Kanindotex's real worth in order to
secure bigger bank loans.

Despite these charges, the government never seized Robby's
shares at Kanindotex nor did it bring him to court.

Several business analysts also suspect Bambang and Kotjo's
takeover gambit as nothing more than a ploy by Robby to regain
control of his company. (hdj)