IBRA's new head says asset sales his top priority

IBRA's new head says asset sales his top priority

JAKARTA (JP): New chief of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring
Agency (IBRA) Cacuk Sudarijanto set his top priority on Thursday
as the sale of government stakes in PT Astra International, Bank
Central Asia and Bank Bali.

"My primary task is to achieve the agency's revenue target of
Rp 17 trillion (US$2.36 billion) for the state budget by the end
of March," Cacuk said after he was installed by finance minister
Bambang Sudibyo to replace Glenn Yusuf.

The agency has raised some Rp 10 trillion from asset sales and
expects to secure the remaining Rp 7 trillion from the sale of
stakes in the country's largest automaker and the two banks.

Cacuk said IBRA would push ahead with its plan to sell its 40
percent stake in Astra.

"The process is on track and according to schedule. The
management of Astra has been fully cooperative with us," Cacuk
said.

He said that if matters continued to proceed smoothly, Astra
would convene an extraordinary shareholders meeting on Feb. 8.

He said IBRA was engaged in negotiations with the preferred
bidder, an American investor group led by Newbridge Capital and
Gilbert Global Equity Partners.

"We are negotiating on how much the investor group will have
to pay up-front as a commitment fee to show its seriousness in
purchasing a stake in Astra," he said.

Cacuk said the investor group agreed in principal with the up-
front fee requirement, with only the amount remaining to be
decided.

Earlier media reports said the investor group agreed to an up-
front payment of about 10 percent of the transaction value.

But Cacuk said the reported amount was inaccurate and stressed
that negotiations were still under way.

"No, it's not 10 percent. We are still negotiating. It could
be higher than that."

He added that Bank Central Asia, in which IBRA is the majority
shareholder, would make an initial public offering later in
March.

"We badly need additional cash from the sale of our stake in
Bank Central Asia to meet our Rp 17 trillion revenue target."

Cacuk described IBRA as a good organization with a large pool
of professionals.

"I will not make any serious changes in the agency as it
already has a good organizational structure and capable human
resources."

He said he was impressed by the financial expertise shown by
IBRA personnel during the past two months when he was vice
chairman of the agency.

Although he has been linked to the "axis force" of Muslim-
oriented political parties, Cacuk sought to assure the public of
his independence and professional integrity in leading IBRA.

"I'm not representing the interest of any political party. My
task is to make the best out of IBRA for the sake of this
country's economic well-being."

Separately, President Abdurrahman Wahid said on Thursday that
there were no political motives behind his decision to replace
Glenn with Cacuk.

"I replaced Glenn simply because he had been very slow and
sometimes even indecisive in dealing with the thousands of
corporate debtors now under IBRA."

He said Glenn appeared to be afraid of potential litigation
from companies which came under IBRA's control.

He added that Glenn's deputy Faried Haryanto did not perform
to expectations, indicating that the finance minister was now
preparing Haryanto's replacement.

The President said he was concerned that delays in the
handling of corporate debtors would erode the value of the
businesses and consequently undermine the country's economic
recovery.

"Therefore, I decided to replace the IBRA chief at the
recommendation of Emil Salim, chief of the National Economic
Council."

In an apparent expression of approval for Cacuk's appointment,
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday that
strong leadership of the agency was crucial to the success of the
fund's programs in Indonesia.

IMF director for external relations Thomas Dawson said in
Singapore: "A strong IBRA and an independent IBRA is absolutely
essential for the central bank restructuring program to go
forward."

Also installed together with Cacuk on Thursday were seven key
officials of the finance ministry.

A. Anshari Ritonga, formerly the tax director general, was
appointed director general for budget, Mahfudh Sidik the tax
director general, Herwidayatmo the chairman of the Capital Market
Supervisory Agency (Bapepam) to replace Jusuf Anwar, Noor Fuad
the secretary-general to replace Agus Haryanto, who was appointed
inspector general, Darmin Nasution the director general for
financial institutions and Achmad Rochjadi the chief of the
Agency for Financial and Monetary Analysis. (udi/prb)