Indosat to hit the road to sell shares

JAKARTA (JP): PT Indosat, the state-owned international communications monopoly, will launch a road show in the near future in conjunction with the firm's plan to sell shares on both the international and domestic markets.

Agus Haryanto, chief of the legal and public relations bureau of the Ministry of Finance, said over the weekend that the road show, scheduled for June or July, will include London, Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

Indosat, one of Indonesia's blue-chip companies, has been targeted by the government as the first state-owned firm to be listed on an international stock exchange under its program to privatize state companies.

Indosat expects to sell 25 percent of its shares through the New York Stock Exchange and 10 percent on the domestic capital market.

The government has appointed Merrill Lynch of the United States as Indosat's lead underwriter for overseas share sales and state-owned PT Danareksa Sekuritas for domestic sales.

Agus also told reporters that Merrill Lynch, one of the largest brokerage firms in the world, will need some co- underwriters to execute the "go international" move.

"It is likely that Merrill Lynch will require some assistance in underwriting the share issuance," he said. "Ultimately, however, it is up to Merrill Lynch to decide."

Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave had appealed for the inclusion of local underwriters in the listing of Indosat's shares abroad.

Merrill Lynch was involved in PT Semen Cibinong's public offerings in 1990 and 1993, the arrangement of a US$37 million floating-rate-note loan for Bank Rakyat Indonesia in 1992, the issuance of commercial papers worth $60 million for Bank Niaga, Gudang Garam's Rp 592.5 billion initial public offering in 1990, the Indonesian Capital Fund's $37.5 million initial public offering in 1989 and the sale of ITT's interest in Indosat to the Indonesian government in 1981. (04)