Malaysian-RI firm buys 40% of Sempati Air

Malaysian-RI firm buys 40% of Sempati Air

JAKARTA(JP): Sempati Air, a domestic private airline, has
agreed to sell 40 percent of its shares to Asian Aviation Inc., a
Malaysian-Indonesian joint venture, in a bid to increase its
capital before floating its stock on capital markets.

A Sempati spokesman, Gde Suardhika, told The Jakarta Post on
Thursday that Asian Aviation is scheduled to complete
transactions on the share acquisition within 10 days after
Sempati's shareholders meeting on April 2.

"Within 14 days after the meeting, Sempati must report the
deal to the Ministry of Justice," he said.

Gde refused, however, to disclose how much money Asia Aviation
will have to pay for the share acquisition.

An aviation analyst told the Post that the majority of the
shares of Asian Aviation are controlled by Indonesian parties.

The company is based in the Malaysian city of Labuan, a
financial center, where company owners are well-protected by
Malaysia, the analyst said.

Sempati, set up eight years ago, is 25 percent owned by
Humpuss Group, a diversified business conglomerate controlled by
President Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo Mandala Putra, 40
percent by PT Tri Usaha Bhakti, a holding company of the Armed
Forces, and 35 percent by timber tycoon Mohammad (Bob) Hasan.

With the share acquisition announced, Sempati will be 40
percent owned by Asian Aviation, 25 percent by Tri Usaha Bhakti,
20 percent by Hasan and 15 percent by Humpuss.

Gde said that Asian Aviation has been a longstanding partner
of Sempati in the operation and maintenance of aircraft.

"Asian Aviation is the lessor for some of the aircraft
operated by Sempati," he said.

"The relationship between the companies has been very good so
far and the stake acquisition will form a good synergy."

He said that after the stake acquisition, Sempati's paid-up
capital will increase to about Rp 210 billion (US$90 million)
from Rp 50 billion ($21 million).

Asian Aviation was estimated to pay Sempati about Rp 84
billion for the shares.

Gde said that due to the participation of Asian Aviation as
its new strategic shareholder, Sempati is expected to gain a
profit of Rp 80 billion ($43 million) this year, as compared to
Rp 26 billion ($11 million) in 1995.

Meanwhile, Sempati's president, Hasan M. Soedjono, said that
his company is scheduled to list its shares on the Jakarta Stock
Exchange in early October.

He said Sempati has selected PT Bahana Sekuritas as lead
underwriter and PT Pentasena Securities as financial advisor for
the planned initial public offering.

Sempati plans to offer about 20 percent of its shares to the
public to raise about Rp 300 billion in fresh funds.

Sempati currently operates five Fokker 27 aircraft, seven
Fokker 100s, eight Boeing 737-200s, two Fokker 70s and three
Airbus 300-B4s.

Sempati's shareholders agreed on the airline's plan to procure
three wide-body jets, like Airbus A-330s, A-330s or Boeing B-777s
and 10 smaller aircraft like Fokker F-100s. (icn)