Indofood to sell stake in PT Artha

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly-listed PT Indofood Sukses Makmur, an affiliate of the giant Salim Group, is selling its stake in instant coffee producer PT Artha Nugraha Mandiri.

Indofood's chief executive officer, Eva Rijanti Hutapea, said last week there was one potential buyer for the company located in Semarang, Central Java.

"But we do not know what transaction price the buyer is offering," Bisnis Indonesia quoted her as saying last week.

She declined to mention the total expected value of the transaction, but said the proceeds would be invested in another strategic business.

Artha Nugraha is 51 percent owned by Indofood and 49 percent by PT Java Prima.

Another Indofood executive said the two firms were negotiating the terms of the transaction, which is expected to take place soon, and that a foreign investor had proposed cooperating with Artha Nugraha in financial and technological aspects.

The plan would include the exportation of 60 tons of instant coffee per month from Artha Nugraha to the European market, which is equivalent to 50 percent of the firm's total monthly production.

In a related development, Indofood has announced its intention to acquire 11 companies under the Salim Group at a transaction cost of Rp 1.75 trillion (US$730.6 million).

The companies include PT Intiboga Sejahtera, PT Salim Oil Grains, PT Bitung Menado Oil Ltd. and PT Argha Giri Perkasa. The other firms were Inti Plantation, PT Cibaliung Tunggal Plantations, PT Gunung Mas Raya, PT Serikat Putra and PT Indriplant and PT Indomarco Adhi Prima. (09)