Govt changes Permata sale plan
Govt changes Permata sale plan
Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta
The government plans to allocate a 51 percent stake in Bank
Permata to strategic investors in the upcoming divestment
process, rejecting a request from several investors who want the
government to allocate them up to a 71 percent stake.
State Minister for State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi said
the government chose to allocate 51 percent of its Permata stake
to strategic investors in order to raise more money later on the
stock market by selling the remaining 20 percent.
"We are going to allocate 51 percent of the stake to strategic
investors, and the remaining 20 percent to public investors via
the stock market," Laksamana said on Thursday during an
exhibition of state-owned companies.
Laksamana said that under this plan the state would gain a
higher yield compared to selling the entire 71 percent stake to
strategic investors, as the share price of the bank on the stock
market was expected to increase after it was acquired by a
strategic investor.
The government, which has a 97.17 percent stake in publicly
listed Permata, plans to sell 71 percent of its stake later this
year to raise cash to help finance the state budget deficit.
According to government-owned asset management company PT
Perusahaan Pengelola Aset (PPA), which holds the Permata stake,
strategic investors have asked the government to sell the entire
71 percent stake during the strategic sale process, in order for
them to gain full control of the bank and put in place their
preferred management board.
The PPA has thus far received letter of interests in Permata
from about 42 investors, most of them foreign affiliated. The
company plans to open the bid on Aug. 13.
Among of the local investors interested in bidding for Permata
are Bank Mandiri, Bank Rakyat Indonesia, Bank Panin, Bank Buana,
Bank Danamon, Bank Artha Graha and Bank Niaga.
Analysts said earlier that plans by several local banks to
participate in the Permata bid was an encouraging sign, but
questions remained as to whether local investors could bring the
kinds of improvements to Permata that foreign investors had
brought to local banks they had purchased in the past year.
Former Bank Indonesia senior deputy governor Anwar Nasution
casts doubt over the ability of local banks to improve Permata's
performance, urging them not to participate in the bid because of
their limited funds and lack of expertise in managing banks.
"Our banks cannot even manage their own operations. Most of
them are still relying on income from government recapitalization
bonds. So what is so great about them? They do not have enough
funds, so let us stop the babbling," Anwar said.