Shareholders reject Aqua's delisting plan

Shareholders reject Aqua's delisting plan

Mustaqim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A majority of independent shareholders of PT Aqua Golden
Mississippi, the country's largest bottled water producer,
rejected on Tuesday a proposal to delist the company from the
Jakarta Stock Exchange.

In an extraordinary shareholders meeting on Tuesday, which was
delayed twice, more than half, or 51.05 percent, of attending
independent shareholders vetoed the company's plan to go private.

"The proposal (to delist) was not approved and the company
will remain publicly listed. There may not be the possibility of
the company proposing delisting," said the company's president
director, Willy Sidharta.

The meeting was attended by 98.41 percent of the quorum --
exceeding the Capital Market Supervisory Agency's (Bapepam)
requirement of 75 percent. Independent shareholders accounted for
76.88 percent of those in attendance.

The main reason for the rejection was the low price of Rp
100,000 (US$10.20) for each share offered by Aqua. Independent
shareholders had request five times that amount due to the
brand's established name.

Aqua first planned to delist from the exchange in 2001 but
failed to gain approval from its minority shareholders. French-
based Danone Asia Pte Ltd is the majority shareholder through PT
Tirta Investama.

Willy said the company aimed for a 13 percent volume growth
for next year.

"We are optimistic that Aqua will reach 13 percent volume
growth per year, 15 percent annual net income growth and 5
percent perpetual growth within the next five years, despite its
failure to delist," he added.