Padang's new management gears up towards spin-off
Padang's new management gears up towards spin-off
The Jakarta Post, Padang/Jakarta
The new president director of West Sumatra-based cement maker
Semen Padang reiterated on Tuesday his commitment to the spin-off
of Padang from its parent company Semen Gresik, saying
preparations for the spin-off were now in progress.
"All members of the spin-off team comprising officials from
Semen Gresik, Semen Padang and Semen Tonasa, have resumed works
to prepare the spin-off," he said as quoted by Antara in Padang,
West Sumatra.
The statement came one day after Dwi and his management team
managed to take over Padang's management after months of failed
attempts. Dwi and his management team entered the office, guarded
by hundreds of armed military and police personnel.
Dwi's management team was appointed by Gresik's shareholders
in a meeting in May this year. Until recently, Padang's old
management, backed by thousands of workers, blocked any efforts
by the new management team to enter Padang's compound and take
over the management.
One of the reasons behind the thorny dispute was a demand from
Padang's old management and the workers union as well as West
Sumatra's provincial administration that Semen Padang be spun off
from Gresik.
After Monday's takeover, the West Sumatra provincial
administration immediately urged them to go ahead with the spin-
off program.
"The spin-off is West Sumatrans' aspiration, so there's no way
the new management could hamper it," Yuen Karnova, the
administration's spokesperson, was quoted by Antara as saying.
"If they do not realize the spin-off, they will have to face
West Sumatra's people and administration."
Padang's shares are 99.99 percent owned by Gresik, which is 51
percent owned by the government, 23.46 percent by the public and
25.53 percent by Mexico's Cemex SA de CV, who became Gresik's
shareholders in 1998.
Besides Padang, Gresik fully owns South Sulawesi-based Semen
Tonasa, which reportedly has also demanded a spin-off.
The State Minister of State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi has
reportedly approved Padang's spin-off program.
As the follow-up on the minister's approval, Gresik, Padang
and Tonasa have jointly formed the spin-off team, said Dwi.
However, due to the lengthy dispute between Padang's old
management and Semen Gresik, the team could not complete its task
properly.