Six large firms sell 3.4m shares to cooperatives
Six large firms sell 3.4m shares to cooperatives
JAKARTA (JP): Six private companies yesterday agreed to sell
3.4 million of their shares to 83 cooperatives in various parts
of the country.
Minister of Cooperatives and Small Enterprises Subiakto
Tjakrawerdaya said at a ceremony for the signing of the agreement
that the government needs help from big companies to promote the
development of cooperatives and small enterprises.
"It's the government's right to ask something from them as
they become big due to facilities given by the government,"
Subiakto said.
The six selling companies are PT Dharmala Sakti Sejahtera with
1.6 million shares, PT Dharmindo Adhiduta with 360,000 shares, PT
Berlian Laju Tanker with 71,000 shares, PT Citra Marga Nusaphala
Persada with 1.2 million shares, PT Ooysindo Eka Perkasa with
90,000 shares and PT Asuransi Harapan Pratama with 60,000 shares.
Of the six companies, the first three are listed on the
Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX).
Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, president of Citra Marga Nusaphala
Persada, yesterday noted that the sale of shares to cooperatives
is in response to President Soeharto's call in 1990 that big
companies give attention and technical assistance to
cooperatives.
Hardiyanti, also Soeharto's oldest daughter, emphasized that
partnerships of large companies with cooperatives and small
enterprises is necessary to spur the business of the smaller
ones.
"Established entrepreneurs need to involve cooperatives and
small enterprises in their business by forging partnerships or
selling shares, not giving alms, to them," she said.
Cooperatives
Out of the 3.4 million shares, 40 percent were sold to
employee cooperatives of six companies, 40 percent to village-
unit cooperatives and the rest to cooperatives of civil-servants
and members of the Armed Forces.
The shares were offered at a nominal value of Rp 1,000 (U.S.
46 cents) each, although the actual value on the JSX might be far
higher.
"We hope that the cooperatives will not sell what has become
their assets now, although the stock market offers a promising
capital gain," Hardiyanti was quoted by Antara as saying.
According to Subiakto, the shares were purchased by the
cooperatives on credit and can be paid off with 75 percent of the
dividends they generate every year. However, when the companies
don't garner profits the cooperatives are not required to pay.
When the companies profit, the cooperatives can use the other
25 percent of the dividends to strengthen their capital.
Since President Soeharto made an appeal to 200 conglomerate
owners gathered in his Tapos ranch in West Java in 1990, there
have been 175 companies selling 69.2 million shares to 1,711
cooperatives. (rid)