S'pore firm vying for RI food company

S'pore firm vying for RI food company

SINGAPORE (DPA): Singapore Food Industries (SFI) has emerged
as one of three international companies bidding to take over a
food processing company once owned by a close ally and golfing
buddy of former Indonesian President Suharto, a published report
said on Friday.

The move comes as a number of Singapore government-linked
companies raised their interests in assets currently controlled
by the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA).

Sources in Jakarta told The Business Times that IBRA expects
the sale of PT Pangansari Utama to generate between US$30 million
and $50 million.

"The parties will be requested to submit their final bids and
the winner will be selected sometime in early November," one was
quoted as saying.

The acquisition of Pangansari would enable SFI to further
expand its regional business interests. It has operations in
Malaysia, China and Australia as well as the United Kingdom.

PT Pangansasri is one of 30 companies that was pledged to IBRA
by Mohamad "Bob" Hasan as repayment for liquidity assistance
extended to his bank by Bank Indonesia in 1998.

Known as a timber baron, Hasan has been put under house arrest
for alleged corruption.

It is the first time IBRA has put one of his companies on the
market.

Pengansari is regarded as one of the few profitable companies
under the group, the newspaper account said. Its main source of
revenue is from its exclusive catering contracts with large
mining and oil companies as well as from its warehousing
operations.