Minister optimistic about Telkom's offering

Minister optimistic about Telkom's offering

JAKARTA (JP): PT Telkom's initial public offering (IPO) on the
domestic and international stock markets, which closed on
Thursday, is estimated to have reached the government's target,
Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave said.

"According to the latest developments in the country, Telkom's
IPO is successful. But we will have to wait until tomorrow
(today) to get the final figures," he said yesterday.

"I have been told that the road show and the one-to-one
meetings in New York were also very, very packed," Joop added.

Joop made his comments after opening the 16th Asian Integrated
Services Digital Network Council Conference through a
teleconference with participants in Surabaya, East Java.

The state-owned telecommunications company is offering 1.16
billion shares, each with a nominal price of Rp 500 (22 U.S.
cents), at Rp 2,800 each through the Jakarta, Surabaya, New York
and London stock exchanges.

The offering included the sales of 933.33 million new shares
and 233.33 million shares owned by the government. The domestic
public offering represented 12.5 percent of Telkom's total shares
or a third of the total offering.

However, since Telkom grants domestic investors a claw-back
option for up to 2.5 percentage points of the total offering, or
233.33 million shares, whenever the offer is oversubscribed, the
portion sold through domestic stock markets may reach 15 percent.

Joop said yesterday that results of the company's road show in
Asia indicated that sales have exceeded the number allotted to
the region.

"In Europe, where a road show was not conducted, the public's
enthusiasm was reported to be three times higher than that in New
York," he said.

Joop said Telkom's public offering should not be compared to
PT Indosat -- another state-owned firm which went public last
year -- whose shares were oversubscribed.

"You must remember Telkom's public offering will be the
biggest conducted in Asia this year and it is the government's
policy to make the majority of the offered shares available to
domestic investors," he said.

Telkom is the third state firm to go public. It follows
Indosat and PT Tambang Timah, a tin mining firm. (pwn)