Kanindo's fate in hands of bank creditors: Mar'ie
Kanindo's fate in hands of bank creditors: Mar'ie
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad denied on
Saturday all reports that a consortium led by businessman Bambang
Trihatmodjo has taken over the debt-ridden textile companies of
the Kanindotex Group.
"There have been no developments at all with Kanindotex,"
Mar'ie told journalists on Saturday.
When asked about possible negotiations between Bambang's
consortium and Kanindotex's creditors -- state-owned Bank Bumi
Daya (BBD) and Bank Pembangunan Indonesia (Bapindo) -- Mar'ie
said curtly, "They are the ones who held the meeting. So, ask
them."
Mar'ie said earlier this month that the final decision as to
who will take over the textile company is in the hands of the
creditors.
The minister, however, added that any investors bidding for
the acquisition of the textile companies should use fresh funds
and that a significant portion of the companies should be sold to
the Federation of Indonesian Batik Cooperatives, which was
appointed by the creditors to temporarily manage the Central
Java-based companies.
Antara reported that last Friday, businessmen Bambang Yoga
Soegama, Johannes Kotjo and Benny Soetrisno -- all of whom are
members of Bambang's consortium -- held a meeting with BBD's
president, Iwan Ridwan Prawiranata, at the bank's headquarters in
Central Jakarta.
A number of journalists, speculating that Bambang and his
colleagues and Kanindotex Group's creditors were holding a
meeting to sign an agreement on the takeover, had gathered at the
office, waiting for the meeting to adjourn. The journalists were
left waiting in vain, however, as the participants exited the
building through the basement doors.
Meanwhile, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Saturday that BBD and
Bapindo have agreed on the consortium's takeover. After the
takeover, Kanindotex Group will be 70 percent owned by President
Soeharto's son Bambang Trihatmodjo, 10 percent by Bambang Yoga
Soegama, the son of a former chief of the national intelligence
agency, 10 percent by Johannes Kotjo, a former executive of the
Salim Group, and another 10 percent by Wisnu Srihardono.
Robby Tjahjadi and his family, current owners of Kanindotex
Group, will not, it reported, have any shares in the group.
The Kanindotex issue erupted last year after a parliamentary
investigation, led by the then Golkar legislator Bambang Warih
Koesoema, revealed that Robby had failed to honor his debts.
Kanindotex Group, which operates PT Kanindo Prima Perkasa, PT
Kanindo Success Textile and PT Kanindo Mulia Utama, has bad debts
estimated at around Rp 763 billion (US$3546.8 million) with BBD
and Bapindo. (rid)