Swiss group to own 74.5% of Semen Cibinong
Swiss group to own 74.5% of Semen Cibinong
JAKARTA (JP): The Swiss-based cement group Holcim Ltd.,
formerly known as Holderbank Financiere Glaris Ltd., plans to
raise its stake to 74.5 percent in publicly listed cement
producer PT Semen Cibinong, as part of the latter's debt
restructuring deal.
In an advertisement published in the daily Harian Ekonomi
Neraca on Wednesday, Cibinong said its debt restructuring deal
would cause founding shareholder PT Tirtamas Majutama to
relinquish all of its shares to its creditors and Holcim.
Under the deal, Tirtamas will lose its current stake of 43.31
percent, while the public's ownership share of 44.19 percent will
be diluted to 6.7 percent, the company said.
The deal requires an independent shareholder's approval, for
which Cibinong plans a shareholder's meeting on June 26.
Cibinong said the debt restructuring plan followed Holcim's
agreement last year to become Cibinong's majority shareholder.
"As a follow up (to the agreement), from August until December
2000, Holcim held intensive debt restructuring talks with
Cibinong's creditor steering committee," Cibinong explained.
The creditor steering committee, comprising local and foreign
creditors, supervises the restructuring of Cibinong's debts worth
some US$1.18 billion.
Cibinong said that under the mediation of the Jakarta
Initiative Task Force (JITF), Holcim and the steering committee
signed a preliminary agreement on which they later set up the
terms and conditions of a debt workout plan.
The plan was approved by 91 percent of Cibinong's creditors,
outside bond holders, during a presentation last March.
The debt restructuring plan covers three stages; at each stage
Holcim will step up its ownership in Cibinong.
At the first stage, Holcim will absorb Cibinong's debt and
convert it to equity. The Swiss company will purchase the debts
at discounted rates under the Dutch Auction method, for which
Holcim will set aside $175 million.
Following this, Holcim's stake in Cibinong will increase to
58.5 percent stake from the present 12.5 percent.
At the second stage, Cibinong will pay up principle debts of
$35 million from accumulated funds in the company's escrow
account.
Cibinong will also seek refinancing by swapping principle
debts of $500 million into new long-term debts. Depending on the
creditors' preference, the new loans will comprise commercial
papers and bank loans.
The company plans to convert the remainder of its debts into
equity worth 26.3 percent, or another 7.53 percent for Holcim.
At the third stage, Holcim will acquire the rest of Tirtamas'
shares to meet its 74.5 percent stake, thus removing the latter
from Cibinong.
Cibinong gave no details on the schedule of its debt
restructuring plan.
Holcim is one of three foreign cement companies seeking to
become majority shareholders in local cement producers.
German-based Heidelberger Zement AG was the first to gain
majority control with a 61.7 percent stake in publicly listed
cement producer PT Indocement Tunggal Prakasa.
Heidelberger's entrance was also tied to a debt restructuring
deal between Indocement and its creditors.
Mexican-based PT Cemex Indonesia continues to hold a 25
percent stake in publicly listed state-owned PT Semen Gresik
Group.
As part of the debt restructuring deal, Cibinong said it must
also resolve issues surrounding the alleged missing overseas
deposits of $255.73 million. (bkm)