Govt divestment in Indosat capped at 14% of total stock

Govt divestment in Indosat capped at 14% of total stock

JAKARTA (JP): The divestment of the government's stake in
international telecommunications provider PT Indosat may be
limited to only 14 percent of the company's total stock to ensure
the government remains its majority position, a company official
said.

The company's manager for investor relations, Budi Prasetyo,
said on Friday that the Indonesian government, which currently
holds a 65 percent stake in the firm, should retain its position
as a majority shareholder.

The divestment program was currently at the pre-qualification
for tender stage, he said but declined to mention details of the
company's divestment plan.

"We do not know any names of our strategic partners yet,' he
said.

He said that the company's financial advisors, Danareksa
Sekuritas, Bahana Securities and Goldman Sachs are working on a
divestment program.

He said that if the winner of the bidding wanted to control
more than 14 percent it should buy the shares through a tender
mechanism in the open market.

Indosat is one of the 12 state-owned companies due to be
privatized this fiscal year to raise a total of US$1.5 billion to
help finance the country's state budget deficit.

Mexican cement producer Cemex SA recently won the bidding for
a 14 percent stake in the country's largest cement producer PT
Semen Gresik as part of the government privatization program for
the 1998/99 fiscal year.

The Mexican company, which bought the Semen Gresik shares for
US$1.38 per share, plans to purchase more from the market to
increase its shareholding to 25 percent.

Other state-owned firms on the list to be privatized include
mining companies PT Tambang Timah and PT Aneka Tambang. (aly)