Medco denies takeover deal

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed oil and gas company PT Medco Energy Corp. has denied that the company is planning to buy part of petrochemical firm PT Chandra Asri.

The company's finance and administration director, Sugiharto, made the remarks Tuesday to counter a press report which said that the company was about to buy a 25 percent stake in Chandra Asri.

Sugiharto however neither denied nor confirmed that the founder and majority shareholder of Medco Energy, Arifin Panigoro, was currently thinking about buying a stake in the company.

"But Arifin Panigoro is different from Medco Energy. He does not represent Medco Energy in his plan to buy Chandra Asri shares," Sugiharto said.

Arifin controls 63.1 percent of Medco Energy.

Chandra Asri, which has production facilities in Merak, Cilegon, West Java, is owned by noted tycoons Bambang Trihatmodjo, Henry Pribadi, Prajogo Pangestu, Anthony Salim, Sudwikatmono and Japanese companies Marubeni Corp. and Showa Denko KK. (jsk)