Semen Gresik deal to be completed by weekend: Official

Semen Gresik deal to be completed by weekend: Official

JAKARTA (JP): Negotiations on the sale of parts of the
government's 65 percent stake in cement producer PT Semen Gresik
to two foreign firms are expected to be completed this weekend,
an official said.

Herwidayatmo, a deputy to the State Minister for the
Empowerment of State Enterprises, said on Wednesday night that
the government basically agreed with the offers made by Cemex CA
of Mexico and Holderbank Financiere Glarus of Switzerland.

"After everything is settled, I think within one to two days
we will ask the finance minister to sign the sales purchasing
agreement," he said.

News of the possible entrance of two foreign firms into the
company has triggered a jump of 50 percent in its stock price
since early May and prompted the Jakarta Stock Exchange to
suspend trading in the shares until the business has been
settled.

Stocks in Semen Gresik rose to as high as Rp 9,250 on
Wednesday after opening the day on Rp 8,400. When trading was
suspended shares were priced at Rp 9,150.

The total transaction value that day was around Rp 27.5
billion.

Sofyan A. Djalil, another deputy to the state minister, said
the suspension was at the request of Semen Gresik and was
designed to prevent investors from profiting from the
negotiations with the two international cement firms.

"It is feared that news on the presence of international
investors will only benefit certain people," he said.

State Minister for the Empowerment of State Enterprises Tanri
Abeng said the two international players had offered a price in
excess of Semen Gresik's current market price.

"News of this triggered the rise in share prices," he said on
Wednesday.

Some brokers said there were rumors that Cemex and Holderbank
Financiere Glarus had submitted bids of between US$0.9 and $1 per
share (equivalent to Rp 14,700 at the current exchange rate) for
Semen Gresik.

Semen Gresik, one of 12 state enterprises to be privatized by
the government this year, has been under the spotlight in recent
weeks after the Capital Market Supervisory Agency (Bapepam) set
up an investigation team to probe alleged insider trading in the
company's stock.

The investigation is still going on.

An official from Bapepam said yesterday that the agency had
summoned several securities firms which were suspected of
involvement in the alleged insider trading.

"We have not come to a conclusion yet," the official who asked
for anonymity said.

Previous reports alleged that several securities firms,
including PT Bahana Securities, PT Danareksa Sekuritas and PT
Jardine Fleming Nusantara, who are all in-house advisors in the
privatization of Semen Gresik, were involved in the scam
throughout May and June this year. Also tainted by the
allegations were PT Bhakti Investama, PT ING Barings Indonesia
and PT Indosuez WICarr Indonesia.

Tanri said that he fully supported the Bapepam move to
investigate the illegal trading.

"This is especially important to maintain both the good
standing of my office and the image of our capital market," Tanri
said. (rid)