Swissasia appraisal delayed due to lack of documents: BI
Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Bank Indonesia has urged Swissasia Global consortium, the winning bidder of Bank Lippo's 52 percent stake, to immediately submit the necessary documents for a complete evaluation of the company, which is required before the sale agreement can be signed.
Anwar Nasution, senior deputy of the central bank, told reporters on Friday that the consortium had not submitted the required letter of comfort so BI could not proceed with its appraisal based only on the preliminary data it has.
The central bank needs to know where the funds to buy the stake came from and who the shareholders are, he said.
"Swissasia is a recently established entity with capital assets of US$400 million," said Anwar, while adding that to ensure credibility, income statements were required.
"That's the regulation that was also applied in (the acquisitions of) Bank Central Asia and Bank Danamon," he said.
The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) recently announced that Swissasia as the preferred bidder in Lippo's divestment, which is estimated to contribute Rp 1.21 trillion ($142 million) to the state budget.
The consortium is composed of Swissfirst Bank AG, Chaffron Ltd., Matrix Asia Holding Ltd., ASM Investment Ltd. and Ferrell Opportunity Capital Ltd.
Swissfirst is a subsidiary of the investment brokerage and bank Swissfirst AG while Chaffron Ltd. is owned by an Austrian bank, Raiffeisen Zentralbank Osterreich AG.
"They (the European banks) are the main shareholders (in the consortium), each holding 24 percent of shares" said Anwar. "That's why we're asking for the letter of comfort from them."
IBRA Chairman Syafruddin Tumenggung said, as quoted by Detik.com, that the agency had asked the investor to complete the documents needed by BI as soon as possible.
"After BI finishes its evaluation, I will sign the SPA (Sales and Purchase Agreement)," said Syafruddin.
The divestment is expected to be wrapped up on Feb. 19, as part of IBRA's race to close the deals on several banks in its hands and to reach the set target of Rp 5 trillion before it is dissolved on Feb. 27.
IBRA currently holds a 54.9 percent stake in Lippo, while public investors own 35.5 percent and Lippo E-Net, controlled by the Riady family, the former controlling owners of Bank Lippo, holds the remaining 9.6 percent.
As to the possibility of the Riady family being behind the consortium, Anwar said he did not know since there was no information provided.
"That's what we want to find out," he said.
Even if they were, he elaborated, there would not be a problem since the previous agreement between the government and bankers allowed such actions.
Lippo, with Rp 22.4 trillion in assets, has 379 branches across Indonesia and employs some 6,000 people.