Indosiar sets coupon at 12.8%

Indosiar sets coupon at 12.8%

JAKARTA: Indonesian television company PT Indosiar Visual Mandiri said Thursday that it has set the coupon for its Rp 717 billion rupiah (US$86 million) in five-year bonds at 12.8%.

The bonds will be offered only to the company's existing shareholders. For every 500 shares held, one bond can be bought at Rp 175,000, or 82.5% of the bond's face value.

As a sweetener, each bond will be issued with 131 warrants. Each warrant can be converted into one share six months after the bonds are issued at prices that will be determined later.

The company will issue the bonds next month.

The proceeds of the issue will be used for working capital and to repay debt. -- Dow Jones

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AIG to take over GE units

TOKYO: Major U.S. insurance group AIG said Thursday it will buy General Electric's Japanese life insurance arm, making it Japan's largest foreign life insurer in a deal that could trigger further consolidation in the industry.

The deal is worth between US$2.1 and $2.2 billion and includes the purchase of the GE's U.S. auto and home insurance operations.

The move highlights the potential of Japan's insurance market -- the second largest in the world -- despite the tough environment as a flight to quality stands to benefit foreign insurers that commit long-term, experts said.

American International Group Inc. (AIG) will become the largest foreign life insurer in Japan after the deal is completed -- by the end of September at the earliest and by the end of the year at the latest. -- AFP

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BAT vows to remain in Myanmar

LONDON: Tobacco giant BAT insisted Thursday it would keep doing business with Myanmar unless ordered to stop, despite Prime Minister Tony Blair saying it was wrong for British companies to deal with the military regime.

"At the moment, we have no intention of pulling out. That's our position," a BAT spokesman said.

Only if the British government or the European Union decided to impose sanctions on the country, "then we won't do business there," he said.

BAT, which runs a cigarette factory employing 500 people in Myanmar, a joint venture with the country's military dictatorship, was placed in the firing line on Wednesday after Blair hinted strongly he wanted them to pull out.

Speaking in parliament, the prime minister said: "We are making it clear to British companies that we do not believe this is appropriate in circumstances where this regime continues to suppress the basic human rights of its people." -- AFP