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.