Tahija retains 10.49% stake in Bank Niaga
Tahija retains 10.49% stake in Bank Niaga
JAKARTA (JP): The Tahija family retains a 10.49 percent stake
in Bank Niaga after Hashim Djojohadikusumo's Tirtamas Group
failed to make full payment on its planned acquirement of the
family's shares, a bank spokesman said yesterday.
The spokesman who asked to remain anonymous said Tirtamas had
suffered serious liquidity problems due to the economic crisis
and was unable to carry through with its plan to acquire all of
the Tahija family's 40 percent share in the bank.
"Because of the crisis, Tirtamas could not settle all payments
to Tahija. Consequently, Tahija still holds a stake in the bank."
Tirtamas' spokesman, however, could not confirm if the group
failed to make the payment.
"What I know is that there is no problem between Pak Hashim
and the Tahija family," Janus Hutapea said.
Bank Niaga's financial statement, published on Monday, shows
that Tahija's wholly owned PT Astindo Teguhjaya has a 10.49
percent stake in Bank Niaga.
PT Tunasmas Panduarta, Tirtamas' financial holding company,
holds a 39.51 percent stake in the bank.
Other shareholders are RHB Bena Sdn. Bhd. with 20 percent,
life insurer AJB Bumiputera 1912 with 5.43 percent and the
investing public with 24.57 percent.
In a surprise move, Tirtamas' Tunamas Panduarta bought a 10
percent stake in Bank Niaga through a public tender offer in
July.
In addition, it entered into an agreement with Tahija's
Austindo Teguhjaya and Austindo Nusantara Jaya to buy the
latter's 75.63 million shares, or 40 percent of the bank's
capital, at Rp 8,000 per share (about US$1 at the current
exchange rate).
Julius Tahija said his family sold their shares because they
wanted to focus on the mining and power generation business.
Established in 1985, Bank Niaga is one of the largest private
banks in Indonesia, with total assets of Rp 10.965 trillion at
the end of 1997.
It booked a net profit of Rp 48.3 billion in 1997, a sharp
drop from Rp 97.98 billion in 1996.
Bank Niaga listed its shares on the Jakarta and Surabaya stock
exchanges in 1989. It has more than 60 branches in Indonesia and
offices in Los Angeles, the Cayman Islands and Hong Kong.
(jsk/rid)