Telkom offers 1.16b shares on local stock marts

JAKARTA (JP): State-owned telecommunications company PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) will offer 1.16 billion shares, each with a nominal price of Rp 500 (US$0.22), at Rp 2,800 ($1.20) each through the Jakarta and Surabaya stock exchanges later this week.

"The shares to be offered from Oct. 27 to Nov. 2 will consist of 933.33 million new shares and 233.33 million shares owned by the government," Telkom President Setyanto P. Santosa announced on Saturday.

He said that the domestic public offering represents 12.5 percent of Telkom's total shares, or about one third of the total offering on the domestic and international stock exchanges.

However, since Telkom grants domestic investors a clawback option for up to 2.5 percentage points of the total offering, or 233.33 million shares whenever the offer is oversubscribed, the portion sold through the domestic stock markets may reach 15 percent.

To encourage domestic investors to buy Telkom's shares, the company will offer discount and incentive shares.

"We offer a 2.5 percent discount for those who order through pooling allotments and provide 50 incentive shares for Indonesian individuals who buy 500 shares and 500 incentive shares for cooperatives who buy 5,000 shares," said Setyanto.

He said the incentive shares are to be given on the condition that the shares from the initial offering will not be sold for at least one year.

"The incentives are designed to encourage Indonesian investors to participate in the Jakarta Automated Trading System which was launched early this month," said Setyanto.

President Soeharto inaugurated the modernized Jakarta Stock Exchange earlier this month.

Soeharto suggested in his address that the public be encouraged to invest through the Jakarta Stock Exchange because the number of individuals participating in the stock exchange is currently only 200,000 people, or less than one percent of the country's population.

He said the primary offering period will be effective domestically and overseas at the same time.

The allotment date is scheduled on Nov. 10 and the listings on the stock exchanges in Jakarta and Surabaya will be made on Nov. 14 and those in London and New York on Nov. 13.

"Given the time difference, we have received a permit from the government to open transactions on the Jakarta stock exchange between 21:00 and 04:00 on the share listing day in New York," said Setyanto.

The permit has been granted to enable investors in Indonesia to monitor the share prices on the listing day on the overseas market.

Setyanto said that Telkom expects to raise about Rp 6 trillion (US$2.6 billion) from the share offerings on the domestic and international stock exchanges.

The funds from the share issue will be used for telephone network expansion, modernization and developing new businesses and enhancing services, Setyanto added.

Setyanto and a delegation left on Saturday evening to promote the share offering to investors in London, Tokyo and New York. (kod)

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