Marubeni, IBRA sign MOU on Chandra Asri's debt plan

Marubeni, IBRA sign MOU on Chandra Asri's debt plan

TOKYO (Dow Jones): Marubeni Corp. said Tuesday it has signed a
memorandum of understanding with the Indonesian Bank
Restructuring Agency (IBRA) on a debt restructuring plan for PT
Chandra Asri Petrochemical Center, in which the two parties are
creditors.

Under the agreement, IBRA will take a 80 percent stake in PT
Chandra Asri by converting all of its US$460 million investment
to equity, while Marubeni will take a 20 percent stake by
converting $100 million, part of its loan, to equity.

Marubeni expects to be repaid the remainder of its investment
over the next 12 years, it said.

A Marubeni spokesman wasn't immediately available for comment,
but people familiar with the negotiations said last month that
the Japanese trading house had invested a total $723 million in
the ailing petrochemical giant.

Following the planned financial restructuring, PT Chandra Asri
will boost the capacity of its naphtha cracker to 560,000 tons a
year from the current 510,000 tons by revamping existing
facilities, Marubeni said in a statement.

PT Chandra Asri's olefin center, including the naphtha
cracker, in West Java, Indonesia, came onstream in 1995.