IBRA says 19 investors interested in Bank Niaga
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Chairman of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) I Putu Gede Ary Suta said on Wednesday there were 19 investors which had expressed interest in purchasing the government's 51 percent stake in the publicly listed Bank Niaga.
He said that nearly half of the prospective investors were foreign firms.
"The latest number we have is 19, of which 11 are domestic investors," Ary Suta told reporters on the sidelines of a hearing with legislators.
An IBRA document available to reporters lists investors as including names like Bakti Capital, Rifan, Newbridge Capital, Saratoga, ANZ Panin Bank, GKBI and SG Securities.
However, Ary Suta refused to confirm the seven names.
The government, which nationalized the bank via IBRA in the late 1990s and currently controls a 97.15 percent stake, hopes to be able to complete the divestment of Bank Niaga shares in June this year.
Like the newly concluded Bank Central Asia (BCA) sale, the sale of Bank Niaga is seen as a crucial part of efforts to revitalize the ailing banking sector and to raise cash to help finance the state budget deficit.
The divestment of government ownership in nationalized and recapitalized banks is part of the economic reform program agreed upon with the International Monetary Fund, which is providing a multibillion dollar bailout loan for the country.
Delaying the program would only hurt investor confidence in the economy.
IBRA has said that it also plans to sell government shares in several other banks this year.
Efforts have been made to help lure investors into Bank Niaga. The government has decided to convert 40 percent of fixed-rate recapitalization bonds in Bank Niaga into bonds carrying variable rates linked to Bank Indonesia benchmark rate.
The bank currently holds Rp 9.2 trillion worth of bonds, injected by the government in late 1990s to finance the bank's recapitalization program.
Elsewhere, Ary Suta also said that an info memo, consisting of information on the bank, would be distributed to interested bidders between March 22 and March 28.
"As for the deadline of the preliminary bid, it has been set for April 12," Putu added.
The agency is targeted to collect Rp 42.8 trillion (some US$40 billion) from the sale of state assets this year, to help plug state budget deficit projected at 2.5 percent of gross domestic product.
Bank Niaga managed to book Rp 41.1 billion in net profit as of Dec. 30 last year, the first positive balance sheet since the devastating 1997-1998 financial crisis.
The bank's capital adequacy ratio (CAR), as of December, stood at 18.7 percent while its non-performing loans reached 9.75 percent.
PT Trimegah Securities and Kartini Mulyadi and Partners are acting as financial and legal advisors, respectively, for the Bank Niaga sale process.