Lippo sale to be closed in September

Lippo sale to be closed in September

Bloomberg, Jakarta

Swissasia Global, controlled by Austria's fourth-largest bank,
expects to complete the sale of its 52 percent stake in
Indonesia's PT Bank Lippo in September.

Khazanah Nasional Bhd., Malaysia's state investment company,
said July 17 it will buy the holding for between Rp 3.18 trillion
(US$325 million) and Rp 3.3 trillion, more than twice what was
paid by Swissasia.

"We are talking about an early September timetable to complete
the sale," Chris Williams, a director at Swissasia Global, said
in a telephone interview from Hong Kong on July 22. The
transaction will be completed after a meeting of shareholders at
the end of August, he said.

Kuala Lumpur-based Khazanah, which owns more than two dozen
companies with a total market value of $16 billion, wants to
invest more in regional financial services and technology
businesses. Indonesia's economy is expected to grow at least 6
percent this year, the fastest in nine years, as consumers in the
nation of 238 million people spend more.

"Malaysian institutions are now looking at business
opportunities at the regional level, especially in Indonesia,
which has a huge population," said Teguh P. Hartanto, a banking
analyst at Namalatu Cakrawala Securities in Jakarta. "Swissasia
Global deserves a premium price because it will sell a
controlling stake in Bank Lippo."

The final purchase price for the Swissasia stake hinges on the
completion of the June 30 audited accounts for the Jakarta- based
lender, Indonesia's ninth-biggest, according to Khazanah.

Swissasia, led by Raiffeisen Zentralbank of Austria, bought
the Bank Lippo stake in February 2004 from the Indonesian Bank
Restructuring Agency for $142 million.

"We have been approached by a number of investors,"
Swissasia's Williams said. "We like Khazanah. The bank will be
left in good hands."

Shares of Bank Lippo, which have risen 117 percent since the
start of the year, compared with a 17 percent gain in the Jakarta
benchmark index, rose 30 rupiah, or 2 percent, to 1,520 rupiah at
the 4 p.m. local time close today.

Indonesia's Ministry of Finance has approved Swissasia
Global's planned sale of its entire stake in Bank Lippo to
Santubong Investment BV, a unit of Khazanah, Williams said.

Indonesia's central bank, Bank Indonesia, will start a
screening test on Khazanah Nasional to determine if the Malaysian
company fits the central bank's criteria as PT Bank Lippo's new
owner, Bisnis Indonesia reported on July 18, citing Siti
Fadjriah, a deputy governor at Bank Indonesia.

BNP Paribas advised Khazanah; Merrill Lynch & Co. represented
Swissasia Global; and UBS AG advised Bank Lippo.

Khazanah controls Commerce Asset-Holding Bhd., Malaysia's
second-largest lender, which owns a 61.1 percent stake in PT Bank
Niaga, Indonesia's No. 8 lender.