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)