Nusamba announces bid for Indocopper
Nusamba announces bid for Indocopper
JAKARTA (JP): PT Nusamba Mineral Industri, a subsidiary of the
politically well-connected Nusamba Group, formally announced its
bid yesterday to buy a majority stake in Indocopper Investama
Corporation (IIC).
The company said it proposed to purchase all Bakrie &
Brothers' 10,814,900 shares of IIC, which owns 9.36 percent of
Freeport Indonesia.
According to Nusamba's notice published in the Republika daily
yesterday, the company wants to buy the shares, which have a
nominal value of Rp 1,000, for US$28.82 each.
The acquisition would be worth about $311 million.
Bakrie & Brothers said it would announce today whether it
would sell its Indocopper shares.
According to reports, Bakrie & Brothers is under political
pressure to sell its stake in Indocopper. But Bakrie Group's
chairman, Aburizal Bakrie, and Bakrie & Brothers' president,
Tanri Abeng, have denied this.
"There is no political pressure," Tanri told the Jakarta Post
early this week.
Aburizal Bakrie said there had not been any pressure from the
government to sell Bakrie's controlling stake in Indocopper, and
any decision to sell would be based on business, not political,
reasons.
He said Bakrie & Brothers had received a $15 million dividend
in 1995 from its 51 percent stake in Indocopper. This was lower
than expected.
Freeport Indonesia, 80 percent owned by U.S.-based Freeport
McMoran Copper and Gold and 10 percent each by the Indonesian
government and Indocopper, has been operating in Indonesia since
1973.
Indocopper and the Indonesian government now hold only 9.36
percent of Freeport Indonesia because they did not increase their
equity capital when Freeport-McMoran raised the company's capital
and issued new shares.
Bakrie bought a 10 percent stake in Freeport in January 1992
for $213 million. In December 1992, Bakrie sold 49 percent of its
stake in Indocopper to Freeport-McMoran for $212 million; a
windfall profit. This reduced Bakrie's stake in Indocopper to 51
percent. (09)