Salim Group Rushes Philippine Asset Sale

Salim Group Rushes Philippine Asset Sale

Dow Jones MANILA

Pacific Co. (H.FPC) of Hong Kong is rushing the sale of its Philippine assets before the end of the third quarter to meet an Oct. 11 deadline set by the Indonesian government for the Salim family to pay part of its debts amounting to IDR32.2 trillion, roughly equivalent to $3.6 billion, the Philippine Star reports, citing unnamed sources from Indonesia.

The Salim family controls First Pacific, which signed a memorandum of agreement with the group of companies owned by tycoon John Gokongwei last month to form a joint venture that will acquire First Pacific's 24.4% controlling stake in Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PHI) and a 50.4% stake in a major Philippine property venture. Gokongwei will own two- thirds of the joint venture, which is valued at $925 million.

There are persistent speculations that the deal was made in haste as the Salim group is relying heavily on the sale of its Philippine assets to pay off its debts.

First Pacific has said the sale will enable it to monetize a portion of the $1.3 billion it has invested in PLDT since it acquired control of the company in 1998.