Sumitomo buys Salim stake

Sumitomo buys Salim stake

TOKYO (AFP): Major Japanese trading house Sumitomo Corp. said
yesterday it would take a 10 percent stake in PT Sulfindo
Adiusaha, a chemical unit in the Salim group, Indonesia's largest
conglomerate.

Sumitomo would buy an even combination of straight and
convertible bonds, worth a total of US$50 million, which would be
issued by Sulfindo Adiusaha next month, the company said in a
statement.

Sumitomo said it planned to convert the entire $25 million
worth of convertible bonds into Sulfindo Adiusaha shares upon
maturity in 2000.

Sulfindo Adiusaha would use the $50 million to help upgrade
and expand a plant to increase output of chlorine, a raw material
for polyvinyl chloride resins, Sumitomo said.

Chlorine output at the plant would be increased from 100,000
tons a year to 200,000 tons by 1998 when upgrading and expansion
are completed, it said.