HZ to take stake in Indocement

HZ to take stake in Indocement

JAKARTA (JP): PT Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa, the country's
leading cement producer, announced on Thursday that its two major
shareholders have reached an agreement with the Heidelberger
Zement Group (HZ) to sell a stake to the German company.

The publicly listed cement producer said that under
conditional agreements signed on Oct.4, the German company may,
subject to successful debt restructuring, take a direct or
indirect interest in the company.

The two major Indocement shareholders, PT Mekar Perkasa and PT
Kaolin Indah Utama have a combined stake of 47 percent in
Indocement.

Heidelberger will also participate in Indocement's debt
restructuring negotiations with its creditors.

Indocement, part of the Salim Group, is seeking to restructure
by year-end US$1.1 billion in debt, owed mostly to foreign
commercial banks including Japan's Marubeni Corp. (hen)