Jeewon first Korean company to enter JSX
Jeewon first Korean company to enter JSX
JAKARTA (JP): Byung-Soo Park, Chairman of the Seoul-based
Jeewon Group, a leading manufacturer of car stereos and satellite
video receivers, feels proud in his current visit to Indonesia.
Park will be one of 40 Korean businessmen who will be guests
at a luncheon meeting to be held at the Shangri-La Hotel on
Sunday to honor President Kim Young-sam.
The second and apparently more important factor that makes
Park more jubilant and bullish about Indonesian economic
prospects, is because President Kim's visit will take place on
the eve of the initial public share offering by Jeewon's
Indonesian subsidiary, PT Jeewon Jaya.
Jeewon Jaya in Bekasi, West Java, an export-oriented
manufacturer of car stereos, satellite video receivers, high-
quality tuners and wire harnesses, will offer 6.1 million common
shares, each with a par value of Rp 1,000, at Rp 4,500 (US$2.06)
apiece to the investing public here.
"Though our share offering may not be as large as other
companies which have been listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange
(JSX), our issue will be greatly significant because we will be
the first Korean firm listed on the JSX," Jeewon Jaya's President
Chung In-Hyun said yesterday.
There are now more than 300 Korean companies investing in
various industrial areas in Indonesia with capital outlays of
almost $4 billion, making Korea the sixth largest investor in the
country.
Chung said Jeewon Jaya had signed an underwriting agreement
with ten securities companies, including Nomura Indonesia as the
lead manager, Asjaya Indosurya Securities, Baring Securities and
seven others as co-underwriters.
Sources at the Capital Market Supervisory Agency said Jeewon
Jaya would receive an effective registration statement for its
share issue sometime next week.
"We expect to list our shares on the JSX on Dec.20," Chung
added.
He is greatly optimistic about the market prospect of his
company's shares not only because its price reflects a price
earning ratio of only 7.3 times its projected earnings this year
but also because its products are used by two of the most rapidly
expanding industries in Indonesia-- consumer electronics and
automobiles.
Analysts of the underwriting companies hope that Jeewon Jaya's
step would be followed by other Korean companies, most of which
are engaged in export-oriented manufacturing industries.
Committee
In a related development, Soy Pardede, an executive of the
Indonesia-Korea Business Committee which will host the luncheon
meeting, hopes that Korea will continue to be a major source of
foreign direct investment in Indonesia.
Pardede sees President Kim's state visit as quite significant
in further strengthening the political foundation for Indonesia-
Korea economic cooperation.
He foresees a greater role for Korean investors in resource-
based ventures such as the agro-business in addition to forest-
based industries and coal and natural gas mining they have
developed.
"The visit here by 40 businessmen, many of them chairmen of
big business groups, is another indication of Korea's great
interests in further deepening and expanding economic cooperation
with Indonesia," Pardede added.
He noted that since both governments also have concluded
investment guarantee and double taxation agreements, the climate
for business ties has now further been improved.
Pardede also sees a broader opportunity for trade expansion
because Korean trade ties with the developed countries, notably
those in Europe, seem to have matured.
"Moreover, both Korean businessmen and government have now
been paying more attention to Southeast Asia due to its highly
dynamic economy," he pointed out. (vin)