Singapore's Neptune bids for Indonesian terminal
Singapore's Neptune bids for Indonesian terminal
SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Neptune Orient Lines Ltd. Wednesday said its American President Lines unit is leading a consortium bidding for 48.52 percent of a container port in Jakarta.
A NOL spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday APL is bidding to be the second largest shareholder in Koja Container Terminal at Jakarta's Tanjung Priok port.
The Koja terminal is 51 percent-owned by the state-run PT Pelabuhan Indonesia, or Palindo, while the remaining shares are owned by the Humpuss Group, controlled by Hutomo Mandala Putra, former president Soeharto's youngest son, the Business Times reported Wednesday.
The NOL consortium also includes the Singapore government's investment arm, Temasek Holdings Ltd., and Singapore-listed Indonesian shipping company, Samudra Shipping Lines Ltd. (P.SDS), the newspaper reported.
NOL's regional rival, Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. and an unnamed Indonesia group are also said to have placed bids.
The Singapore consortium is reportedly offering US$150 million for the stake, but the NOL spokeswoman declined to confirm the figure.
Ron Widdows, NOL's senior vice president for operations, said in a statement that the port will help NOL cut costs and improve operations.
"The Koja Terminal would better protect our interests and provide APL with the ability to have a greater influence in the operations of the terminal, providing better controls over costs for our business in Indonesia," he said.
Koja, a two-berth terminal with five cranes, won't be a dedicated terminal as "we and out potential partners have substantial volumes, and the terminal would have other customers as well," Widdows said.
Analysts say the APL-led consortium has a "strong" chance of securing the bid.
"The consortium has the political connections, the management expertise and the deep pockets to pull this through," said one analyst who declined to be named.
If successful, NOL will be the second Singapore company to own a chunk of a distressed Indonesian company.
Earlier in the year, auto distributor Cycle & Carriage Ltd. successfully bid for a cornerstone PT Astra International Ltd. Its consortium included the Government of Singapore Investment Corp.
NOL later confirmed that APL will be buying the stake currently held by the Humpuss Group.
The Business Times said Humpuss will use the proceeds from the sale to pay the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency, or IBRA, which took over a large part of the group's Rp 5.46 trillion debt when it took over loans from banks closed by the Indonesian government last year.