Pelindo unit sale not undervalued, says govt official

JAKARTA (JP): The government denied on Monday allegations that the sale of PT Jakarta International Container Terminal, a unit of state-owned port operator PT Pelindo II, to Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa was undervalued.

A senior official at the State Ministry of the Empowerment of State Enterprises, Sofyan Djalil, said the privatization deal was the best offer the government received due to the bearish market.

"In terms of price earning ratio, the transaction was much better than that made by other leading port operators," he told The Jakarta Post. The deal was much higher than that made by Rotterdam Port, which has a larger capacity, he said.

He declined to disclose additional details, saying they would be released as soon as the transfer was completed.

Earlier, a government source told the Post the government had only received some $200 million from the sale of a 51 percent stake in JICT to Grosbeak, a unit of Hutchison Whampoa.

JICT is the management company of Indonesia's busiest port in Tanjung Priok. The company is a unit of state-owned PT Pelindo II, targeted for government privatization in the 1998/1999 fiscal year.

Legislators Paskah Suzetta and Uray Faisal Hamid expressed concern at the weekend that the privatization of Pelindo II as well as Pelindo III -- which is currently underway -- was not transparent and that the sale of JICT was undervalued.

Sofyan, however, said it was impossible for the government to fully disclose the Pelindo II transaction until a final deal was signed because it involved a foreign publicly listed company, in which a preliminary announcement would have a significant impact on the price of its listed shares.

"But I can assure you that the privatization process is being conducted transparently, competitively and is auditable," he said.

The government failed to reach its privatization target in the fiscal year ending in March.

A government source said only $381 million could be raised during the fiscal year, less than half the target figure of $1 billion.

The proceeds come from the sale of the government's stake in Pelindo II, cement maker PT Semen Gresik and in publicly listed instant noodle maker PT Indofood Sukses Makmur.

The government announced last week that the sale of government shares in state-owned international telecommunications company PT Indosat would be delayed until the 1999/2000 fiscal year because new telecommunications regulations were not yet finalized. (rei)