Toll road consortium secures Rp 2 trillion in syndicated loan
JAKARTA (JP): Local consortium PT Kresna Kusuma Dyandra Marga secured a Rp 2 trillion (US$847 million) syndicated loan yesterday to build a 21.5-kilometer toll road linking Jakarta and Bekasi, West Java.
"This is the largest ever syndicated loan to be obtained by local companies for a toll road project," Kresna Kusuma's president, Djoko Ramiadji, said after the loan signing ceremony.
PT Kresna Kusuma Dyandra Marga is owned by state-owned toll road operator PT Jasa Marga (10 percent), PT Investa Kusuma Artha (35 percent), PT Kusuma Chandra Buana (16.2 percent), PT Dyandra Pancagraha (9.8 percent) and PT Kresna Tara (29 percent).
Kresna Tara is owned by President Soeharto's son Bambang Trihatmodjo and Bambang Riyadi Sugomo.
The ceremony at the Grand Hyatt hotel was attended by the minister of public works, Radinal Moochtar.
Djoko said the company would spend Rp 1.4 trillion of the Rp 2 trillion loan building the toll road and Rp 300 billion to pay loan interest.
The remaining Rp 300 billion will be a standby loan.
The syndication consisted of 31 banks, including six state- owned banks.
The lead arrangers were the state-owned banks Bank Negara Indonesia, Bank Rakyat Indonesia, Bank Bumi Daya, Bank Tabungan Negara and private banks Bank Danamon Indonesia, Bank Internasional Indonesia, Bank Niaga, Pan Indonesia Bank, Bank PDFCI, Bank Universal and Bank Ratu.
The loan has a four-year grace period and will mature in fourteen-and-a-half years. It carries a 19.5 percent a year interest rate.
After seven years, the banks can continue or withdraw their loans. If the banks withdraw their loans PT Kresna Kusuma will issue revenue bonds underwritten by securities firms to replace the loans.
He said seven securities firms had committed to underwrite the revenue bonds. They are PT Bahana Securities, PT BNI Securities, PT Bumi Daya sekuritas, PT Bapindo Bumi Sekuritas, PT Pentasena Arthasentosa, PT Amsteel Securities Indonesia, PT Astra Securities.
Djoko said the company preferred local banks to financing the project so they could benefit from the toll road project.
The toll road, set to become an alternative to the crowded Cikampek toll road, will stretch from East Jakarta's Cawang area to Kampung Melayu, Kalimalang, Pondok Kelapa, Perjuangan and Duren Jaya in Bekasi.
The road's first section, stretching eight kilometers from Cawang to Pondok Kelapa, is scheduled to be completed in 1998, while the whole project is slated to be finished in 2001.
The company is building the toll road under a 32-year build, operate and transfer contract.
Jasa Marga has built 324.15 kilometers of Indonesia's 472.22 kilometers of toll roads, while private firms have built 148.07 kilometers of toll road.
Almost 37 kilometers of new toll roads are scheduled to open this year in Jakarta, West Java, Central Java and South Sulawesi.
The toll road projects in Jakarta which will be completed this year are the Rawa Buaya-Penjaringan road (4.8 kilometers), the Ulujami-Kebon Jeruk road (7.67 kilometers), the Cikunir-Cakung road (0.37 kilometers) and the Pondok Aren-Serpong road (7.2 kilometers). (jsk)
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