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VIVA/S Korea's Lotte Eyeing Indonesia's Hypermart
"We're making our final offer," said Lotte Group Executive Vice President on International Trade and New Businesses, Hwang Kag Gyu, in an interview with Bloomberg yesterday, Nov 29. "Fund is not the issue," he said.
The acquisition will enable Lotte own 49 outlets which combine Matahari department stores and supermarkets. Lotte's base in Seoul, South Korea, which also include petrochemicals industry, has been developed in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Russia.
However, the final offer is likely to be postponed. Hwang has yet to announce the exact day of the final offering period.
In addition to eyeing hypermart, Lotte as the bidder also has another option of gaining shares of Jakarta-based Matahari.
Matahari Putra Prima Director of Corporate Communications, Danny Kojongian, refused to give comment on Lotte's plan.
It is reported that Matahari in October of 2010 hired Merril Lynch to analyze the business and follow-up with foreign companies to invest in, or hold partnership with, the company.
Earlier, Meadow Asia Company Limited and Matahari Putra had signed a sale and purchase agreement on Matahari Department Store worth Rp 7.2 trillion on January 23, 2010.
Meadow Asia is a joint venture of CVC Capital Partners and Matahari Putra Prima. Through the agreement, CVC controls 80 percent of Meadow shares while Matahari owns 20 percent of the remaining shares.
After the transaction, Meadow Asia through Meadow Indonesia will control 80 percent of Matahari Dept. Store shares while Matahari will only own 20 percent of the initial 90.76 percent.
In Indonesia, Lotte Group will put in around US$860 million through its affiliation Lotte Mart.
