Hero denies Multipolar acquisiton market rumors

JAKARTA (JP): Hero Supermarket denied yesterday a market rumor that it would be bought by Multipolar Corporation, a Lippo Group subsidiary.

Anton Lukmanto, Hero's director told The Jakarta Post yesterday that Multipolar was very interested in the publicly listed firm, Hero, but most Hero shareholders did not want to sell.

He said the rumor was groundless and disturbed Hero's management.

"It seems the rumor was started to effect prices," he said. "This is not the first time there has been a rumor like this."

Similar rumors spread in January.

Anton said neither Hero nor Multipolar had plans to form a strategic alliance.

Bisnis Indonesia yesterday reported that Multipolar was considering purchasing Hero shares in the second half of the year.

The daily said this would strengthen Multipolar's position as the largest retail business player in the country.

"Let's see what happens in the second semester this year," Lippo Group's managing director Roy E Tirtadji said.

Roy said Lippo Group was concentrating on consolidating some of its widely diversified activities.

A retail business analyst from ING Barings Securities said that almost all investors thought the rumored acquisition plan was just a market rumor.

But she said it was possible that it was true even though Hero denied it.

She said late last year there was a market rumor that Multipolar would buy most of Matahari's shares. "Matahari denied it but the deal later went ahead," she said.

"It is a matter of time and will depend on negotiations between both parties," she said.

Last year Multipolar acquired 202.95 million Matahari shares and made a tender offer for an additional 5.1 percent to increase its shares to 50.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the companies' share prices remained unchanged on Jakarta Stock Exchange yesterday. Multipolar closed unchanged at Rp 1,925 on a total transaction volume of 9.45 million shares while Hero closed unchanged at Rp 2,450 on a total transaction volume of 2.84 million shares.

Multipolar, which is 48.65 percent owned by PT Lippo Asia and 51.35 percent by the public, operates several big department stores in franchising agreements with the United States' Wal-Mart International and JC Penny.

Hero was founded in 1971 and operates more than 60 stores throughout the country. It plans to open 11 more outlets in 1997. Last year it opened 11. (09)