PTT Telecon and Setdco buy Telkomsel shares
PTT Telecon and Setdco buy Telkomsel shares
JAKARTA (JP): PT Telkomsel, a global system of mobile communications (GSM) operator, sold 22.5 percent of its shares last night to PTT Telecom of the Netherlands and the Setdco Group.
The deal was a follow-up to letters of undertaking, which were signed on Feb. 14 between Telkomsel, PTT Telecom and PT Setdco Megacell Asia of the Setdco Group.
Under the deal, PTT Telecom Netherlands will pay US$333 million, comprising a cash payment of $304 million and in-kind contributions worth $29 million, for 17.28 percent of Telkomsel, while Setdco Megacell is to pay $96.4 million, including $88 million in cash and $8.4 million in in-kind contributions, for five percent of Telkomsel.
Telkomsel's president, Koesmarihati Sugondo, said that the non-cash payments will include personnel and expertise training and software contributions. The value of the in-kind contributions may increase in the next two to three years.
Last night, Telkomsel also signed a subscription agreement with PTT Telecom and Setdco, respectively, and a technical assistance agreement with Telkomsel and PTT.
Telkomsel was established in 1995 as the country's second GSM operator by the state-owned telecommunications firms PT Telkom (with 51-percent of the shares) and PT Indosat (49 percent). After last night's deal, Telkom and Indosat will hold 42.72 percent and 35 percent of Telkomsel shares respectively.
The bid for the acquisition of Telkomsel shares started in August 1995 when the company invited 15 foreign telecom operators and four domestic firms to submit their proposals.
PTT Telecom is a subsidiary of the Dutch Koninklijke PTT Nederland (KPN).
PTT Telecom's president for Asia, Jan B. Volbeda, said that his company would deploy a team of experts to support Telkomsel's GSM operation and customer service. The Dutch firm will also assign two of its representatives, one as a director and the other as commissioner, at Telkomsel.
In Indonesia, PTT Telecom also has stakes in PT Bakrie Electronics Company, a Bakrie Group subsidiary which controls a radio telephone firm PT Ratelindo.
Koesmarihati who was previously Telkom's director of development said that Telkomsel would invest Rp 450 billion this year for the expansion of its GSM operation in 17 locations in the country.
The company, which last year invested Rp 260 billion, currently serves 34,500 subscribers in 114 cities in 12 provinces.
Telkomsel which launches its service in Jakarta today, aims to serve 23 out of the country's 27 provinces by the end of this year.
An executive said last night that Telkomsel currently has a networth of $1.92 billion. (icn)