PT STAR refuses to acquire the defunct Bank Summa
PT STAR refuses to acquire the defunct Bank Summa
JAKARTA (JP): The creditors of the defunct Bank Summa will
have to wait longer to get their money back, as PT Sira Tama Agra
Raya (STAR) has scrapped at a plan to buy the bank -- at least
until its current owners sweeten the pot.
"After completing the appraisal of various assets of the
liquidated bank, we found that the total asset value is much
lower than the liabilities," STAR's president, Rinto Harahap,
told a press conference at headquarters of Bank Indonesia, the
central bank yesterday.
The meeting, chaired by Hendrobudianto, a director of the
central bank, and featuring members of Bank Summa's Liquidation
Team (TLBS), including G.L.S. Kapitan, was held to clarify the
position of the central bank in the negotiations between STAR and
the team on the former's plan to acquire Bank Summa's assets.
Rinto and Kapitan signed a 45-day memorandum of understanding
(MOU) in the middle of February this year on the take-over of the
bank's assets and liabilities. The agreement, which expired on
May 20, ruled that the liquidation team would submit confidential
data on the bank to STAR.
One day after the signing of the agreement, STAR was required
to make a cash payment, the amount of which was to be determined
by the team. The following steps of the take-over plan included
the signing of a principal agreement on the take-over and
executing documents.
Once the takeover was effective, STAR was expected to make a
cash payment to the team. The cash was then to be used to repay
the bank's debts to its depositors, a syndication of domestic
banks and other financial institutions.
"I can't reveal how much we found the total assets to be worth
or how much I have paid the team," Rinto said, adding that his
company is now offering two alternatives -- the lowering of
liabilities or increasing the assets.
Assets
Kapitan said the defunct bank has 18 real estate parcels as
assets.
"It's not true that we have sold part of the assets during the
effective term of the agreement," he said, adding that next
payment to depositors will be held within the next six or eight
weeks.
Kapitan said there are 708 depositors awaiting the repayment
of savings totaling Rp 718 billion (US$333.18 million).
Bank Summa's license was suspended in December 1992 due to its
failure to repay debts. The liquidation team, which was
immediately formed following the disclosure of the bank's
problems, was encountering difficulties in selling its assets,
resulting in the delay of the repayment of the bank's debts of
around Rp 1.4 trillion to depositors and financial institutions.
Kapitan said that so far the TLBS has repaid the savings worth
Rp 791 billion to about 180,000 depositors.
"Our liabilities to a consortium of 13 private domestic banks
are estimated at Rp 64 billion, to common depositors Rp 115
billion, financial institutions Rp 160 billion and Bank Indonesia
Rp 379 billion," he said.
Hendrobudianto said that amidst the occurring problem, there
are other interested parties already proposing to take over the
defunct bank's assets, "but they should undertake a procedural
path similar to that taken by STAR."
He refused to name the interested parties.
He also said that STAR, however, will have the first chance to
acquire the defunct bank if the company so wishes.
STAR, set up in 1992 to operate in business cooperation with
Middle Eastern companies, is a subsidiary of the Agra Citra Tama
Persada Group, which is owned by Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, the
eldest daughter of President Soeharto.
According to Hendro, Bank Indonesia stands just as a
supervisor in the case, which has to continue finding other ways
and to understand that the process will take time.(icn)