Hashim uses his own resources to buy Bank Niaga
Hashim uses his own resources to buy Bank Niaga
JAKARTA (JP): Hashim Djojohadikusumo, chairman of the widely
diversified Tirtamas Group, said yesterday his group would use
its own cash reserves and sell some of its assets to buy 50
percent of publicly listed Bank Niaga for about Rp 756.24 billion
(US$290.8 million).
"As you know our group is no longer as small as some may
think. We will use both our cash reserves and proceeds from asset
sales to finance the acquisition."
But Hashim refused to say which assets he would liquidate.
"It's not appropriate to disclose it right now," he said.
Hashim announced Monday that Tirtamas had reached an agreement
with the Tahija family to buy their 40 percent stake in Bank
Niaga and planned to buy another 10 percent through a public
tender offer.
Tahija's wholly owned companies, PT Austindo Teguhjaya and
Austindo Nusantara Jaya, will sell their 75.63 million shares in
Bank Niaga, or about 40 percent of the bank's total 189.08
million shares, at Rp 8,000 a share.
Tirtamas will buy another 10 percent, or 18.9 million shares,
through a public tender offer at the same price.
Bank Niaga is the sixth largest private bank in the country
with total assets of Rp 7.9 trillion and market capitalization of
Rp 1.3 trillion as of December, 1996.
President of PT Austindo Teguhjaya and Austindo Nusantara Jaya
George Tahija said his family would sell their bank shares
because they wanted to focus on mining and power generation.
George said Austindo was developing seven gold mining
concessions and three power generation projects in the country.
Aside from Bank Niaga, Tirtamas holds equity stakes in Bank
Papan Sejahtera (19.8 percent), Bank Pelita (100 percent) and
Bank Kredit Asia (100 percent).
He said Tirtamas had no plans to merge the banks but would
form a synergy among its banks to strengthen Tirtamas' position
in the financial sector before the coming free trade era.
Hashim said he and his father, Soemitro Djojohadikusumo -- a
former minister and Indonesia's most senior economist -- would
join Bank Niaga's board of commissioners.
"There will not be any changes to the board of management
because it has so far been performing well," he said.
Tirtamas has five core businesses, cement, financial services,
oil and petrochemicals, and international trading and
agribusiness.
It has also stakes in Paiton Power Co, which is building a
1,200 Megawatt coal-fired power plant in Paiton, East Java; in
the Adaro coal mining operation in South Kalimantan; and in PT
Indonesia Bulk Terminal which operates a coal terminal and port
in South Kalimantan.
Tirtamas is the majority shareholder in publicly listed PT
Semen Cibinong, one of the largest cement producers.
In the petrochemical sector, Tirtamas is developing what is
billed as Indonesia's largest integrated olefin and aromatics
complex in Tuban, East Java.
Its trading arm, Tirtamas Comexindo, has a network of
affiliated companies and representative offices in 18 countries
with $400 million in annual turnover.
The group also operates more than 200,000 hectares of tea and
oil palm plantations. (jsk)