Hero denies Multipolar acquisiton market rumors

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)