Lippo keen on 38% of Auric

Lippo keen on 38% of Auric

SINGAPORE (Reuter): Food maker Auric Pacific has confirmed
that Indonesia's Lippo Group is interested in acquiring a 38
percent stake in the company, the Straits Times said on Saturday.

The daily added that Lippo group could also become the latest
Indonesian conglomerate to secure a "back-door listing" in
Singapore by buying the Auric stakes currently held by Pantagon
and Nine Heritage.

Pantagon holds a 20.63 percent interest in Auric while Nine
Heritage holds 18 percent.

The daily quoted a shareholder of Auric, Endang Utari
Mokodompit, as saying in a statement on Friday that Lippo was
interested in acquiring her 15 percent interest in Pantagon
Holdings and 80 percent interest in Nine Heritage and discussions
are continuing.

The daily also quoted a Auric spokesman as saying on Friday:
"A sellout by Endang to Lippo would trigger off a mandatory
general offer and that would give Lippo its first vehicle on the
Stock Exchange of Singapore."

Endang leads a consortium comprising Parkway Holdings and two
Singaporean businessmen which took over Auric in 1995.

Together, they control 64.95 percent of Auric, formally known
as Goodman Fielder Asia, through Westront, Pantagon Holdings and
Nine Heritage.

Westront is an 84-16 joint venture between Parkway and South
Quay.

Pantagon is a 51-49 joint venture between Endang and
Benchmark, which is in turn owned by South Quay, the GK Goh group
and Malaysian businessman Azmi Wan Hamzah.