IBRA likely to announce BCA winner in two weeks
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) could announce the winning bidder for a 51 percent stake in Bank Central Asia (BCA) in as soon as two weeks, according to the government on Friday.
State Minister for State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi was quoted as saying by Reuters that in about two weeks IBRA would likely announce the winner.
"(IBRA) is still waiting for BI (to finish the screening process on the bidders)," Laksamana said.
In late January, IBRA received four final bids for BCA but has been unable to process them, as bidders must first pass Bank Indonesia's screening process.
Bank Indonesia said earlier it expected to finalize its fit and proper test on the final BCA bidders by the end of next week.
Afterwards, bidders must undergo IBRA's two-stage evaluation process -- passing the fit and proper test is part of the first stage.
The second stage would take bidders head to head in competing for the best price, reputation and easiest terms and conditions.
IBRA has instituted a 50-point weighting for the price offering, 25 points for bidders' terms and conditions, 20 points for reputation, and five points on bidders' strategy for the future of BCA.
Of the four final bidders, two have emerged as the most competitive bidders.
They are the British-based Standard Chartered Bank Plc and the U.S. investment firm Farallon Capital Management.
Competition among the two is heating up as both publicly claimed that they had made the best offer to IBRA.
StanChart has been rumored to be in the government's favor due to its strong reputation. But also to make up for StanChart dropping out from an earlier deal to acquire Bank Bali when a political-linked scandal erupted at the bank.
Farallon however may still be able to snatch the bank as it is said to be offering a better combination of price and terms and conditions than StanChart does.
Laksamana brushed aside a possible re-tender over speculation that Farallon and StanChart bids had come too close in pricing. He said the prices submitted were final.
IBRA will sell BCA through a two-step sale process, with only a 30 percent stake offered in the first step. The winning bidder can purchase the other 21 percent through an option.
Closing the deal would mark the end of a two-year long effort of returning BCA to private hands. IBRA took over BCA from the Salim Group after mismanagement in the bank led to the misuse of some US$5 billion in state liquidity loans.