Indosat to hit the road to sell shares

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)