IBRA to wrap up Lippo sale next week
IBRA to wrap up Lippo sale next week
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) expects to
finalize soon the auction of a 52 percent stake in Bank Lippo by
signing a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with Swissasia Global
consortium, as the winning bidder.
"We hope to sign the agreement next week," IBRA spokesman
Rohan Hafaz was quoted as saying by Bloomberg on Thursday.
If the plan materializes, it will mark the first sale of an
Indonesian bank this year by IBRA, which is rushing to collect as
many proceeds from its asset sale program as possible, before its
term expires on Feb. 27.
It would also quash earlier doubts that Lippo, the country's
11th-largest lender, would be unable to attract credible
investors at the right price.
The current process is the agency's second attempt to return
the bank, formerly owned by the Riady family, to private hands.
The first attempt last year failed to generate respectable bids,
the agency claimed, which led to the cancellation of the sale.
IBRA has a 54.9 percent shareholding in Lippo, while public
investors own 35.5 percent. The remaining 9.6 percent is held by
Lippo E-Net, controlled by the Riady family.
Swissasia Global offered Rp 1.2 trillion (US$142 million) to
acquire Lippo, which has some Rp 22.5 trillion in assets and
employs about 6,000 workers in 379 branches across the country.
According to an IBRA statement, the consortium groups together
Swissfirst Bank AG, Chaffron Ltd., Matrix Asia Holding Ltd., ASM
Investment Ltd. and Ferrell Opportunity Capital Ltd.
Swissfirst is a subsidiary of investment brokerage and private
bank Swissfirst AG, Chaffron Ltd. is owned by Raiffeisen
Zentralbank Osterreich AG -- Austria's fourth-largest lender.
Over the last three years IBRA has sold majority stakes in
Bank Danamon, Bank Niaga, Bank Central Asia (BCA) and Bank
Internasional Indonesia (BII).
In the pipeline for this year is Bank Permata. IBRA is also
planning to sell a minority stake in a number of other banks.