Indosat plans for acquisitions

JAKARTA (JP): State Minister of the Empowerment of State Enterprises Tanri Abeng said here Saturday that publicly listed PT Indosat was considering making some acquisitions in an effort to boost its value before further divestment of government stakes in the state-owned international telecommunications provider.

"Three possible (acquisition) targets are being considered," he said on the weekend after attending President B.J. Habibie's state of the nation address.

He declined to provide details because "it would not be fair".

He also dismissed any possibility of acquiring publicly listed domestic telecommunications company PT Telkom.

"Acquiring Telkom is not an alternative at the moment," he said.

He also said Indosat would seek facilities from the country's telecommunications regulator as part of its value creation strategy.

"This will include restructuring the country's telecommunications industry and rates," he said.

Tanri said earlier that Indosat's current market capitalization value of less than US$1 billion would have to be boosted first to between $2 billion to $2.5 billion before further divestment of the government's stake by 20 percent to 30 percent.

Indosat is one of the 12 state-owned companies preparing for privatization this fiscal year to raise some $1.5 billion to help support the state budget.

The first to go on sale is cementmaker PT Semen Gresik, in which a deal is expected this month.

Telecom industry experts said Indosat may be eyeing telecommunications projects exclusively given to Telkom, including telecom marine cable and satellite projects which could never get off ground because of the latter's financial difficulties. (rei)