Salim enters Malaysia

Salim enters Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Indonesia's largest conglomerate has
bought 20 percent of a Malaysian flour-milling company to
spearhead its entry into the local market, a newspaper here
reported yesterday.

Salim Group, controlled by Indonesian tycoon Liem Sioe Liong,
paid 32.5 million ringgit (US$13 million) for a 20 percent stake
in Kuantan Flour Mills (KFM), The Star daily quoted industry
sources as saying.

The acquisition involved five million shares at 6.50 ringgit
each.

Salim will use KFM to make its debut in Malaysia, starting
with flour milling and possibly moving on to financial, timber
and other resource-based industries, The Star said.

Salim, which is also one of the largest conglomerates in Asia,
owns the world's largest flour milling complex located in
Jakarta, with a daily milling capacity of 5,600 tons of wheat.

Its other factories in Surabaya and Ujungpandang have a
combined daily capacity of 3,500 tons.

KFM, in turn, can process up to 14,000 tons of wheat per
month, and also has plans to manufacture pre-mix flour for
bakeries.

Salim is expected to double KFM's milling capacity by
injecting management expertise and funneling flour into the
Indonesian market, which is currently experiencing a shortage.