P&O Australia tipped for stake in local port
JAKARTA (JP): Port operator Peninsular and Oriental Australia Ltd. is the tentative winner of a 49 percent stake in a state- owned container terminal in Surabaya, the country's second largest city, according to a senior government official.
Assistant to the State Minister of the Empowerment of State Enterprises, Sofyan Djalil, said on Monday that P&O Australia offered more than US$170 million for the stake in PT Terminal Peti Kemas Surabaya.
"But it's not final yet. There are certain technical details yet to be finalized," Sofyan told The Jakarta Post by phone from Melbourne.
He said the final deal would be announced this week.
The sale of Terminal Peti Kemas Indonesia, a 100 percent subsidiary of port operator PT Pelindo III, is the country's first privatization deal in the 1999/2000 fiscal year starting April.
State Minister of the Empowerment of State Enterprises Tanri Abeng said that the government expected about Rp 13 trillion ($1.5 billion) in privatization proceeds in the current fiscal year.
Four foreign port operators participated in the bidding for a 49 percent stake in the Surabaya container terminal with a 20- year concession contract.
Apart from P&O Australia, they were Stevedoring Services of America, International Container Terminal Services Inc. of the Philippines and France's Port of Marseille.
The government in March sold 51 percent in the Jakarta International Terminal Container (JICT) to port operator Grosbeak Ltd, a unit of Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa, for $215 million in cash.
It was the second and last privatization deal the government made during the 1998/1999 fiscal year ending in March, raising only $395 million from the target of $1 billion.
The government earlier sold 14 percent of publicly listed cementmaker PT Semen Gresik to Mexico's Cemex SA de CV for $121 million, and another $59 million from its divestment measure in privately run PT Indofood Sukses Makmur, the world's largest instant noodle maker.
The government last week sold its remaining 4.72 percent interest in the publicly listed Indofood, raising $60 million as part of the privatization program.
Together with the P&O Australia deal, the total privatization proceeds raised in the current fiscal year amount to more than $230 million.
Herwidayatmo, another assistant to Tanri, earlier said "political reasons" were behind the government's decision not to sell a majority stake in Pelindo III unit. He did not elaborate.
Tanri earlier received criticism over the privatization of Pelindo II, with some claiming the selling price of JICT to Hutchison Whampoa was too low.
Tanri denied the allegation and said the government received a good price considering the current economic and political uncertainty.
The government plans to make divestment in several listed state-owned companies as part of its privatization program, including international telecommunications provider PT Indosat, coal mining company PT Aneka Tambang and plantations firm PT Perkebunan IV. (rei)