Nusamba moves to take major stake in Astra
Nusamba moves to take major stake in Astra
JAKARTA (JP): PT Nusantara Ampera Bhakti (Nusamba) began maneuvering yesterday to control a majority stake in PT Astra International, buying at least 10 percent of the automotive company's shares through the Surabaya Stock Exchange.
Sources said Nusamba, a business group controlled by three foundations owned by President Soeharto, bought the shares from Bank Ekspor Impor Indonesia, Bank Negara Indonesia 1946 and from other government-related institutions for an average price of Rp 4,100 (US$1.74) a share.
No Nusamba officials were available to confirm the take-over yesterday, but the Surabaya-based over-the-counter market reported that over 144 million Astra shares changed hands on the market's block-trading section yesterday.
The Astra shares were sold by securities companies affiliated with the two state banks to securities firms linked to the Danamon and Salim groups, which are major shareholders in Astra.
Muhammad (Bob) Hasan, a Nusamba commissioner, said earlier he had agreed to buy 10.6 percent of Astra shares held by government-related institutions.
Securities analysts said Nusamba's move to purchase Astra shares yesterday was the start of the company's attempt to control a majority stake in the country's largest automotive company.
They said that Nusamba, a company with timber, plantations, financial services and other interests, was likely to buy more Astra shares in the next few days to ensure it had enough ballots to control the company.
Analysts predicted that Nusamba would forge an alliance with the Danamon and Salim groups to control at least 51 percent of Astra shares.
Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono said Wednesday the government would prefer that the share holdings of Astra remained diversified. At present, the largest shareholders own around 10 percent of the company.
But the analysts considered the minister's statement reflected government dissatisfaction over tobacco tycoon Putera Sampoerna's attempt to acquire a majority stake in the company.
Putera, the chairman of HM Sampoerna, one of the country's largest clove-blended cigarette manufacturers, said early this week he had bought 9.81 percent of Astra shares. The cigarette producer's wholly-owned Dutch subsidiary bought another 2.85 percent, making Putera and his company the largest shareholder in Astra.
But Sampoerna announced yesterday the tobacco company had liquidated its 2.85 percent stake in Astra.
Astra International reported a 25.6 percent increase in its net profit to Rp 340.85 billion in the first nine months of this year over the same period last year.
Astra's net profit is expected to reach Rp 450 billion in 1996 if the market for automobiles and motorcycles improves. (hen)