KPC asks three state mining firms to buy stakes
KPC asks three state mining firms to buy stakes
JAKARTA (JP): The country's largest coal mining company PT
Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) has invited three state mining companies
PT Tambang Timah, PT Aneka Tambang and PT Batubara Bukit Asam to
buy 23 percent of its stake to fulfill a mandatory divestment
program.
The three companies have been given three months to decide on
the offer, KPC said according to letters sent on June 16 to the
three companies, copies of which were made available to The
Jakarta Post yesterday.
KPC will allow the three companies to carry out due diligence
before making deals.
KPC says its 23 percent of shares are valued at $176 million
based on the due diligence conducted by independent appraiser
Jardine Fleming Nusantara.
A spokesman for KPC, Ali Nurdin, confirmed the direct private
placement offering to The Post, saying KPC believed the three
companies would give KPC "added value" as shareholders in the
company.
"The added value would be in terms of management, experience,
and technology," he said.
Tambang Timah, listed in Jakarta and London, is known as one
of the world's most efficient tin mining companies, while Aneka
Tambang, listed in Jakarta, is one of the country's leading
mining firms with operations including ferronickel, gold, silver,
bauxite and iron sand. Bukit Asam is the country's oldest and
second largest coal mining company.
KPC is required under its contract to divest up to 51 percent
of its shares either to the government, the Indonesian people or
companies controlled by Indonesians, between the fifth year and
10th year of its commercial production.
According to the contract, the government decides on the type
of divestment.
Divest
KPC initially wanted to sell its shares through the stock
market but the ministry wanted the company to divest its shares
through direct private placement.
Director General of Mining at the Ministry of Mines and Energy
Rozik Boedioro Soetjipto said the government would not be
involved in the selection of the buyers of the company's shares.
KPC is equally owned by British Petroleum and Rio Tinto, both
from Britain, and is operating a rich coal mine in Sangatta, East
Kalimantan.
It signed a contract with the government in 1982 and started
production in 1992. Thus far, it has invested $750 million.
It is now the country's largest coal mining company, with a
projected output of 15 million tons this year.
The company exports all its product to Japan (32 percent),
Taiwan (24 percent), Hongkong (12 percent), Europe (12 percent),
America (7 percent) and other Asian countries, including the
Philippines, (4 percent).
With current coal prices of between $25 and $35 per ton, the
company will receive earnings of between $375 million and $525
million this year. (jsk)