PT Hero denies shares acquisition by Multipolar
PT Hero denies shares acquisition by Multipolar
JAKARTA (JP): Anton Lukmanto, a director of PT Hero
Supermarket, denied yesterday a rumor that the publicly listed
retail company would be acquired by the department store operator
PT Multipolar Corporation.
Anton said the rumor was baseless because neither Hero or
Multipolar had made any plans to form a strategic alliance or buy
each other's shares.
He said the operations and financial performance of the retail
chain were excellent and that the company did not need fresh
funds from new investors.
The founders, which now control around 60 percent of the
supermarket chain, had no plan to sell their shares, he said.
"It is possible that they (Multipolar) could buy the shares
held by the investing public," he told The Jakarta Post about the
possible entry of Multipolar, a subsidiary of the Lippo Group.
Multipolar, which operates several large department stores in
franchising agreements with Wal-Mart International and JC Penny,
both of the United States, announced late December its plan to
acquire 50.1 percent of PT Matahari Putra Prima, the country's
largest retail chain.
Hero shares on the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) fell last week
to a low of Rp 1,875 from Rp 2,000 on the impact of the take-over
rumor. Yesterday the shares gained ground to close at Rp 2,125.
Anton denied that a recent meeting of top executives of Hero
and Lippo had discussed a take-over plan.
"Please don't link the meeting with the take-over rumor," he
said.
Several newspapers reported last week that Hero's president,
Ipung Kurnia, had met Lippo's James Riady.
Hero, founded in 1971, operates more than 60 stores throughout
the country. It plans to open 11 more outlets in 1997. It opened
11 outlets last year.
"We don't know what they were talking about," Anton
reiterated.
When contacted yesterday, executives from Lippo and Multipolar
refused to comment on the matter.
"I don't think Lippo is ready to comment at the moment," said
a senior executive at Lippo headquarters. He asked not to be
named.
But Anton acknowledged that an acquisition of Matahari by
Multipolar would result in fiercer retail competition.
"We are likely to have a lower growth rate of net profit for
the 1996 financial year because of fiercer competition. But we
will be able to retain our revenue growth rate," he said.
He said that Hero's finances were still being audited.
Hero gained a 50 percent increase in its net profit to Rp 23
billion (US$9.7 million) in 1995. The company booked revenue of
Rp 778 billion in 1995, up 22 percent from Rp 638 billion in
1994.
Anton said that Hero expected that its sales had grown 20
percent last year.
Multipolar has agreed to acquire 202.95 million shares of
Matahari. Multipolar has also made a tender offer for an
additional 5.1 percent of Matahari to increase its total
shareholding to 50.1 percent.
Matahari has 84 stores in 30 cities with annual sales of
almost Rp 2 trillion ($843.5 million).
Multipolar is the Indonesian franchisee of Wal Mart
International, a major department store chain from the United
States, Fireworks Family Entertainment centers and JC Penney
stores. (icn/09)