Holdiko aims for Rp 20 trillion by November
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
PT Holdiko Perkasa targets a total proceeds of Rp 20 trillion (about US$1.95 bilion) by November this year, for which it must raise another Rp 3.8 trillion from the sale of former Salim Group assets.
Holdiko Perkasa finance director Scott Coffey said on Friday that November was its deadline for disposing of the Salim assets.
"We're hoping to finish everything by November 4th," he told The Jakarta Post over the phone.
Based on an agreement, known as the Master of Settlement and Acquisition Agreement (MSAA), Holdiko has been given four years to finish the sale of Salim assets.
Holdiko is a joint company with Salim and is in charge of selling the latter's assets that have been handed over to the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA).
Salim owed IBRA some Rp 58 trillion in liquidity loans that were injected into Bank Central Asia, which it once owned.
To repay the debts, Salim surrendered assets of ostensible equal value to IBRA but an audit later revealed that they were worth only some Rp 20 trillion. The MSAA does not require Salim to cover the shortfall.
Coffey said the MSAA deal expired on November 4, meaning Holdiko must finalize its work by then.
He said Holdiko had sold some Rp 16.2 trillion worth of Salim assets during the past three years.
Among the Salim assets that had been sold were its stake in car manufacturer PT Astra International (Rp 2.07 trillion), the Salim Palm Plantation (US$368 million), and television broadcasting company PT Indosiar Visual Mandiri (Rp 755 billion).
Among the remaining top assets slated for sale this year are PT Metropolitan Kencana, to which belongs Wisma Metropolitan and Pondok Indah Mall, real estate Bumi Serpong Damai, and several Salim resorts in Bintan.
Due to the size and quality of many of Salim's assets, Holdiko is seen as vital to sustaining the appetite of investors for local assets amid an unfriendly investment climate.
For the same reasons though, many believe Holdiko's asset sales have become a hotbed of politicking among interest groups.
Its sale of PT Indomobil Sukses Internasional late last year drew controversy, as critics charged foul-play in the bidding process.
Suspicions arose that Salim had illegally repurchased Indomobil through a nominee. Although the identities of the investors have been revealed, their funding sources remain somewhat unclear.
Responding to this, Holdiko initiated an independent legal audit by Todung Mulya Lubis' law firm had been carried out.
The audit discharged Holdiko of any wrongdoing in regard to the company's compliance with the laws and regulations. However it did not look into the question of legal compliance outside of Holdiko.
The audit results were issued last Wednesday and come as an investigation into Indomobil's sale process by the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) is underway.
Coffey said despite Todung clearing Holdiko of any charges, he would need to comply with whatever the KPPU decided in its probe.
KPPU is grilling Holdiko and IBRA over a possible violation of the antimonopoly law stemming from irregularities in the tender process for Indomobil.
The investigation began last week, during which time Holdiko and IBRA have been summoned by KPPU three times without results.