Indofood to sell stake in PT Artha

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)