Swissasia global shortlisted in Lippo share sale
Dadan Wijaksana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A consortium led by Swissfirst Bank AG has been named a "shortlisted bidder" by the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) in the race to acquire the majority stake in Bank Lippo, the country's 11th largest lender.
The consortium, called the Swissasia Global, will now have two weeks for a due diligence process before submitting a final bid by the end of the month, Junianto Prijono deputy IBRA chairman said on Thursday.
Once it completes the due diligence and submits its final bid, it will be called a preferred bidder. It can take over Lippo after passing screening by the central bank.
The consortium was among three potential bidders that submitted preliminary bids on Wednesday, but the agency decided to disqualify the other two consortia, namely the Eurocapital Asia Limited and Platinum Investment Holdings Limited.
A press statement said that the disqualifications had become inevitable as the two had failed to meet minimum requirements.
It did not elaborate.
The current sale, expected to be concluded in mid February, is the agency's second effort to hand over the bank -- formerly belonging to the Riady family -- back to private hands. The first effort failed to generate acceptable price offers, forcing the agency to cancel the sale process in October.
The sale comes ahead of IBRA's closure, after five years of operation, at the end of February. With the planned closure, IBRA has to press ahead with unloading its remaining unsold assets, so as to avoid a backlash for failing to meet its mandated task.
The agency took over assets from bank owners and failed banks following the late 1990s financial crisis.
Currently, IBRA owns a total of 54.9 percent of shares in Lippo, while public investors own 35.5 percent. The remaining 9.6 percent are held by Lippo E-Net, controlled by the Riady family.
Lippo has a total of some Rp 22.5 trillion in assets, with 379 branches across the country. It employs around 6,000 workers.
Also, the statement said, aside from Swissfirst Bank, the shortlisted bidders consisted of Chaffron Ltd. (owned by Austria's Raiffeisen Zentralbank Osterreich AG), Matrix Asia Holding Ltd., ASM Investment Ltd. and Ferrell Opportunity Capital Ltd.
Swissfirst Bank is a subsidiary of Swissfirst AG, an investment brokerage and private bank, according to Bloomberg.
Aside from Lippo, IBRA plans also to sell its majority stake in Bank Internasional Indonesia (BII) this year, while the sale of Bank Permata is to follow next year. In the last two years, the government has sold its majority stakes in Bank Danamon, Bank Niaga and Bank Central Asia (BCA).
Eyebox Lippo's sale schedule
1. Week II - III January: Due diligence process 2. Week IV January: Deadline for final bid 3. Week IV January: Announcement of preferred bidder 4. Week IV January - II February: Screenings by BI 5. Week II February: Announcement of winning bidder 6. Week III February: Closing transaction