munir-haikal

Investors oversubcribed Pegadaian's bond by 2 times

2012-01-29T19:40:00.002+07:00

Indonesia largest pawnshop, PT Pegadaian, saw it IDR1 trilion shelf-registered bond sale at 2 times oversubcribed. Demand reached IDR2 trilion during the bookbuilding period. The company set with 6.6 percent-7.75 percent of coupon range for the four series of the bond. Pegadaian set 6.6 percent for bond with 370 days of tenor, 7.25 percent for bond with 3 years tenor, 7.5 percent for bond with 5 years tenor, and 7.75 percent for bond with 7 years tenor.

Hadi Santoso a new CEO BRI Syariah

2012-01-29T19:21:00.004+07:00

Board of directors and board of comissioner PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia Tbk named Hadi Santoso as a new CEO bRI Syariah. Hadi replace Ventje Raharjo was tendered his resignation after taking the post for three yars. Formerly, Hadi Santoso is head of region BRI in west Java. Hadi still wait the approval from Bank Indonesia and annual general shareholder meeting.

Pegadaian offer IDR1 trilion bond

2012-01-21T17:04:00.004+07:00

PT Pegadaian, Indonesian pawnshop, offering IDR1 trilion bond with 1 year-7 year tenor after issuing IDR1 trilion bond last year. Pegadaian Director's of Finance Budiyanto said the bondissuances is parts its self registered bond series 1/2011 worth IDR2 trilion. PT Bahana Securities and PT Danareksa Sekuritas help Pegadaian as a underwriter. The self registered issuance is legal based on the capital market supervisory regulation No.IX.A.15, allwoing issuer to sell bond in several phases with once regulation for 2 years. Pegadaian also preparing for initial public offering after change the status from perusahaan umum (perum/general company) to perseroan terbatas (PT/limited company) based on goverment regulation on 13 December 2011. The company plans to sell the shares in the first half of 2012.

Agus Marto lead selection comittee OJK

2012-01-20T17:48:00.003+07:00

Goverment named minister of finance Agus Dermawan Wintarto Martowardojo to lead selection 0f comissioner Financial Services Authority (Otoritas Jasa Keuangan/OJK). There are 9 member in selection comittee include : Governor Bank Indonesia Darmin Nasution, Deputy Governor Halim Alamsyah, The Finance Ministry Director General Taxation Fuad Rahmany, Chairman National Comittee for Good Corporate Governance Mas Ahmad Daniri, Comissioner PT Bank Mandiri Tbk Gunarni Soeworo, Ariyanti, Vice Ministry of State Owned Enterprise Mahmudin Yasin, and Chatib Basri

GMS to buy 12% Golden Mines shares

2011-11-10T17:03:00.002+07:00

GMR Infrastructure Ltd (India), through its subsidiary GMR Singapore, will buy 12% stake in PT Golden Energy Mines Limited valued at IDR1.76 trillion, which is released in an initial public offering.

Thus, Golden Mines shares are sold to the public in an IPO will be only 3%, or 176.47 million shares worth IDR441.17 billion. As it is known, Golden Mines will release 882.35 million shares or 15% to the public at a price IDR2,500 per share.

Meanwhile, GMR Singapore will control a total of 30% shares in Golden Mines.Earlier, GMR Singapore has announced the purchase of 18% shares owned by PT Dian Swastatika Sentosa Tbk at Golden Mines worth IDR2.64 trillion.

Dian Swastatika is the holder of 99.99% shares in Golden Mines, before the IPO of Golden Mines.

GMR entered Golden Mines buy purchasing its 18% shares which owned by Dian Swastatika, and 12% shares will be buy from the IPO. Total GMR fund is US$500 million and the public is US$50 million.

GMR announced it would close the funding of new investment in the next few years, aided by Nomura Holdings Inc. as the financial advisor. The proceeds from GMR Singapore will be used to increase the portfolio, and to acquire mines as well as to make direct investments.

Then, the funds will be used as the capital of another subsidiary namely DSSP Power in South Sumatra to work on a 2x150 megawatt power plant project with PLN, which requires funding of US$400 million. Meanwhile, Golden Mines’ IPO proceeds will be used for capital expenditure by 65% in order to increase coal production

Shinhan Bank take over CNB Bank

2011-11-09T21:25:00.001+07:00

Shinhan Bank, the lending unit ofShinhan Financial Group Co., agreed to buy a 90 percent stake in Indonesia's Centratama Nasional Bank for 40 billion won. Bank Indonesia official denied to comment for the corporate action.

Indosat pay US$300 million debt

2011-11-04T12:57:00.002+07:00

PT Indosat Tbk, second largest seluler provider in Indonesia, is planning to settle US$300 million or IDR2.65 trillion debt next year.Indosat's debt position in the end of September was at IDR21.64 trillion, down IDR2.42 trillion from last year's position at IDR24.06 trillion or more than US$200 million.

The company will use internal cash to settle debt in 2012. Cash and cash equivalent of the company in the third quarter was recorded at IDR1.81 trillion.

In the third quarter, Indosat pocketed IDR992 billion net profit, rose 86.9% from IDR530.9 billion on the same period last year. The gain was contributed by smaller number of other expenses.Nevertheless, operating income was down 9.2% to IDR2.31 trillion from IDR2.54 trillion amid higher operating expenses.

Operating revenue slightly rose 3.5% to IDR15.36 trillion from IDR14.84 trillion, thus operating margin down to 15.01% from 17.12%.

Transmarga raise IDR1.4 trilion loan

2011-10-13T16:32:00.002+07:00

PT Transmarga Jatim Pasuruan, PT Jasa Marga Tbk’s subsidiary, raise IDR1.4 trillion loan commitment from a consortium PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia Tbk, PT Bank Mandiri Tbk, PT Bank Negara Indonesia Tbk, and PT Bank Jatim.

Transmarga Jatim is a joint venture where Jasa Marga manages 52% of the company total share. The remaining shares owned by PT Jatim Marga Utama, and Perusahaan Daerah Jalan Tol Kabupaten Pasuruan who manages Gempol-Pasuruan toll road.

The 34.15 km toll road, which connects Gempol with Grati Pasuruan, is a part of long-term Trans Jawa toll road development plan from Merak to Banyuwangi.

The consortium, led by Bank Rakyat Indonesia, will provide loan funds to Transmarga as much as 70% of the total investment fund that reached IDR2 trillion.

LPS cut guaranted rate

2011-10-13T14:48:00.001+07:00

Indonesia's deposit insurance agency cut its maximum guaranted rate on rupiah-denominated deposits to 7 percent from 7.25 percent.

Lembaga Penjamin Simpanan, which guarantees deposits at banks in Indonesia, lowered the maximum guaranteed interest rate on dollar-denominated deposits to 2 percent from 2.75 percent. The change is effective as of Oct. 15.

Glencore may take over Bumi Plc

2011-10-10T18:57:00.003+07:00

Glencore International Plc, the world's largest publicly traded commodities supplier, may consider buying a stake in Indonesian coal producer Bumi Plc.

PT Bakrie & Brothers Tbk, with 47 percent of Bumi, breached two conditions of a US$1.35 billion bridge loan with Credit Suisse Group AG and a group of investors in recent weeks, putting it in default.

The lenders and borrower are discussing options including a combined refinancing, asset sale and extension of the loan. A sale of a stake in Bumi, which has exposure to the world's largest and fastest-growing stand-alone export thermal coal business, is likely to generate considerable interest.

Glencore is the most obvious suitor, given its existing relationship with the Bakries and off-take agreement with Bumi. Indonesia's Bakrie Group is a palm-oil-to-property family empire founded in 1942 by Bumi Chairman Indra Bakrie's father.

Bakrie & Brothers said it's considering repaying or restructuring a US$597 million loan arranged by Credit Suisse, or a combination of the two option.

Glencore, Rothschild Credit Suisse may be entitled to take over the Bakrie's stake in Bumi should the loan default, according to last year's prospectus for Vallar Plc, as the company was known before its London initial public offering.

Bumi owns about 85 percent of PT Berau Coal Energy and a 29 percent stake in PT Bumi Resources. Bumi is trading about 25 percent below its IPO price, and its value has dropped by about a third since the end of June. Glencore bought a 4.8 percent stake in Bumi Resources last
June through a $200 million equity swap agreement with Bakrie & Brothers. Glencore sold $10 billion of new shares in an IPO in May to help repay debt and fund acquisitions.

Bumi, founded last year by Nathaniel Rothschild, reported underlying profit of US$54 million in the first half, driven by record thermal coal prices. Operating profit was $62 million on sales of US$478 million, the Jersey, Channel Islands-based company said on Aug. 17 in its first six-month earnings report.

Vallar sold 707 million pounds of new shares in last year's offering at 1,000 pence apiece. Bumi said in a statement this week the bridge loan was due for repayment in the near future and Bakrie & Brothers was in talks to restructure the facility.

Jon Lindborg lead ADB Indonesia

2011-10-10T18:51:00.002+07:00

Jon Lindborg lead Asian Development Bank (ADB) as a country director for Indonesia. Lindborg has over 25 years of professional and senior development management experience in Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, South Asia and the Middle East, with a particular focus on private sector development and public-private sector partnership (PPP).

Lindborg is not new to Indonesia. He first served in Indonesia with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as a Private Sector Development Officer from 1988-1993. Later, he was the USAID/Indonesia Deputy Head of Mission during 2002-2005. He was then assigned to the U.S. Embassy Manila for four years as the USAID/Philippines Mission Director before he joined ADB in 2009. At ADB he led the formulation and articulation of policy and strategy to accelerate PPPs in Southeast Asia.

Lindborg joined the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as Advisor for Public-Private Partnership (PPP) for the Southeast Asia Department in August 2009. As an Advisor on the PPP, Mr. Lindborg led the formulation and articulation of policy,strategy and programs to accelerate PPP in Southeast Asia. He supported the integration of PPP into ADB operations; monitored investment climate developments in Southeast Asia; and engaged Governments and other stakeholders in policy dialogue on reforms to enhance the incentive framework for greater private sector participation.

A career U.S. Senior Foreign Service Officer, he joined the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in 1987, where he held various progressively responsible technical and program leadership positions in Washington DC, the Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Middle East. Before joining the ADB, he was assigned to the U.S. Embassy Manila for four years as the USAID/Philippines Mission Director. In this capacity, he directed the U.S. Government’s bilateral assistance program in the Philippines with a program portfolio of nearly US$600 million.
Prior to the Philippines, he was the USAID/Indonesia Deputy Mission Director at the U.S. Embassy Jakarta and played a leading role in the U.S. Government’s response to the tsunami disaster in Aceh.
Before his senior management positions with USAID, Mr. Lindborg directed economic reform and enterprise development programs as a USAID Private Sector Development Officer in Jordan, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Before joining USAID, Mr. Lindborg was a Country Director for the Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific, manager of his family’s farm in Indiana, USA and a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer and Trainer in the Kingdom of Tonga, South Pacific.

Lindborg earned a master’s degree from Purdue University, USA (1985) and a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University, USA (1975).

Steve Jobs passed away

2011-10-06T09:09:00.003+07:00

Steve Jobs, who built the world's most valuable technology company by creating devices that
changed how people use electronics and revolutionized the computer, music and mobile-phone industries, died. He was 56.
Jobs, who resigned as Apple Inc. chief executive officer on Aug. 24, 2011, passed away today, the Cupertino, California-based company said today. He was diagnosed in 2003 with a neuroendocrine tumor, a rare form of pancreatic cancer, and had a liver transplant in 2009.

Jobs embodied the Silicon Valley entrepreneur. He was a long-haired counterculture technophile who dropped out of college and started a computer company in his parents garage on April Fools' Day, 1976.

On his watch, Apple came to dominate the digital age, first through the creation of the Macintosh computer and later through the iPod digital music player, the iPhone wireless handset and more recently, the iPad tablet.

With each product, Jobs confronted new adversaries --from International Business Machines Corp. in computers to Microsoft Corp. in operating systems, to Sony Corp. in music players and
Google Inc. in mobile software.

The opening act of Jobs professional ascent stretched from 1976 to 1984. He scored his first hit with the Apple II computer, a device that resonated with schools and some consumers and small businesses, and made Apple an alluring alternative to IBM, then the world's largest computer maker.

Apple had its initial public offering in 1980 and the graphical Macintosh was born just over three years later. During his second act, from 1984 to 1997, Jobs's star dimmed. In 1985, he was fired after a power struggle with Apple's board.

He started another computer company, NeXT Computer Inc., and bought a digital animation studio from filmmaker George Lucas. The firm later took the name Pixar.
String of Hits Apple's purchase of NeXT in 1997 brought Jobs back to the computer maker he helped found and commenced his careers third act. The company was foundering. He ignited a flurry of innovation and growth -- and achieved what may be the greatest comeback in business history.

Whether he was working on the Mac or the iPhone or backing the computer animation that yielded an unbroken string of Pixar hits, Jobs proved that complex technologies could be designed into simple, beautiful products that people would find irresistible.

Steve Jobs was born Feb. 24, 1955, in San Francisco, to unwed college graduate students Joanne Carole Schieble and Syrian emigrant Abdul Fattah. He was adopted by Clara and Paul Jobs, who raised Steve in the middle-class enclaves of Mountain View and Los Altos in California.

BI Investigates deputy governor for personal loan

2011-10-06T09:01:00.005+07:00

Bank Indonesia Deputy Governor Budi Mulya is under investigation by the state auditor regarding a personal loan he obtained from the former owner of PT Bank Century Tbk, Robert Tantular.

Budi Mulya obtained the IDR1 billion rupiah loan in October 2008 and returned it in January 2009. Bank Century, and its IDR6.7 trillion-rupiah government bailout in 2008, was at the center of a campaign by opposition lawmakers against Vice President Boediono and former Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati that accused them of abuse of authority. Boediono was central bank governor when the Bank Century rescue was approved.

Bank Indonesia relieved Mulya of his role as head of the central bank's monetary policy operations as of the end of last month. Deputy Governors Halim Alamsyah and Hartadi A. Sarwono will assume Mulya's role.

Halim Alamsyah will lead the central bank's monetary policy operations and Sarwono will lead its foreign-exchange reserve management. The central bank already has one vacancy among its six deputy governor positions, after Budi Rochadi died in July. A third deputy, Muliaman Hadad, has his term finishing in coming months.

Chandra Asri raised US$465 million loan

2011-10-04T08:16:00.002+07:00

PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk raised US$465 million loan facility from seven banks for working capital, to support its operational and platform to expand.
The banks are DBS Bank as collateral agent, Standard Chartered Bank, PT Bank Central Asia Tbk, HSBC, PT Bank Danamon Tbk, ANZ, and PT Bank Negara Indonesia Tbk.

The facility is including revolving credit worth US$25 million. The agreement was sealed on September 28.
With such support, the TPIA-coded share is optimistic to significantly grow despite the unstable global economic condition.
Its production capacity reached 600,000 ton per year of ethylene, 320,000 per year of propylene, 320,000 ton per year of polyethylene, 480,000 ton per year of polypropylene, 220,000 ton per year of crude C4, and 340,000 ton per year of styrene monomer.

The listed-company created through vertical merger between two affiliated petrochemical companies namely PT Chandra Asri and PT Tri Polyta Indonesia Tbk. Both are units of PT Barito Pacific Tbk owned by Prajogo Pangestu.

Danamon rights issue oversubcribed

2011-09-29T14:51:00.003+07:00

PT Bank Danamon Tbk ’s rights offering received a very strong and favorable response from the market, with excess share applications reaching 150.81 million.

Danamon issued 1,16 billion series B shares with a nominal value of Rp 500 (five hundred Rupiah) per share at the offering price of IDR4,300 per share, raising total proceeds of IDR 4.99 trilion.

Post rights issue, Danamon’s pro forma consolidated and stand alone Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) stood at 18.3% and 17.1%, respectively as of June 30, 2011, well above the minimum requirements of 8% set by Bank Indonesia.

Citigroup Global Markets Singapore Pte. Ltd. and Deutsche Bank AG, Hong Kong Branch acted as Standby Purchasers for the rights issue. PT Danareksa Sekuritas was the arranger for the rights issue.

Bakrie Plantations settle debt through shares buy back

2011-09-29T13:34:00.003+07:00

PT Bakrie Sumatera Plantations Tbk, producer crude palm oil and rubber, plans to settle its equity-linked debt worth US$600,000, by using its shares collected from the market in recent buyback.
Bakrie Plantations has 6.4 million shares, equals to 0.045% of its total paid in and issued capital, obtained from the buyback. The shares may be used to settle part of its equity-linked debt amounted to US$199 million that will due in 2017.
In accordance with the agreement, debtholders have option to demand Bakrie Plantations to settle the debt by paying cash, company's share or combination between cash and share.
Regarding to the matter, Credit Suisse (USA) LLC as the major note holder on September 12, 2011 officially demanded Bakrie Plantations to settle the debt with company’s share.
Therefore, the Bakrie group-controlled company will have to transfer 6.1 million unit of recent buyback shares to the financial house.
The transaction must be conducted within 14 days since the information disclosure released, with price of IDR347.02. It's slightly higher than buyback price at IDR327.29 per share.
The listed plantation company booked IDR408.78 billion attributed net profit in the first half of 2011, from IDR35.24 billion on the same period last year.
Revenue booked at IDR2.3 trillion, doubled from IDR1.13 trillion, while operating profit rose 101.17% to IDR654.1 billion fromIDR325.13 billion.
Narrower liabilities such as smaller interest expenses amid higher interest income led to company’s profit before tax rose 378.66% to IDR546.44 billion in the first six months from IDR114.15 billion on the same period last year.

Presiden SBY named 4 candidate for deputy governor BI

2011-09-28T16:25:00.003+07:00

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono named Muliaman Darmansyah Hadad, Riswinandi, Perry Wardjiyo, and Ronald Waas as a candidate for deputy governor Bank Indonesia.

Bank Indonesia has submitted the names of eight candidates for two vacant deputy governor posts for the President to choose from from and pass on to the House of Representatives for screening.

The candidates comprised of deputy governor Muliaman Hadad, economic and monetary policy research director Perry Warjiyo, monetary management director Hendar, accounting and payment system director Ronald Waas, international director Nelson Tampubolon and head of New York representative office Kusumaningtuti, and vice presiden director PT Bank Mandiri Tbk, Riswinandi.

Two top positions will become vacant in the fourth quarter of this year for the central bank’s board of governors as the term of the late Budi Rochadi, then BI deputy governor overseeing payment system and micro-lending, who passed away in July, will expire in November.

Budi’s tasks have been taken over by deputy governor of internal affairs Ardhayadi Mitroatmodjo.The term of another deputy governor on banking regulation and research, Muliaman Hadad, will also expire in December, but he could be re-appointed as he has served the board of governors only for one five-year term.

Hanson acquire Binadaya Wiramaju

2011-09-28T16:24:00.000+07:00

PT Hanson International Tbk, a company engaging in industry and general trading sector, is targeting to acquire 99.5% of PT Binadaya Wiramaju’s shares equals to 398,000 shares, worth IDR400 billion.
The acquisition value, much lower than the price set by independent appraiser at IDR432.74 billion, was set at IDR1.01 million per share.
The management said the transaction will be financed through promissory note issuance to a major shareholder of PT Binadaya Wiramaju, namely Benny Tjokrosaputro worth by IDR400 billion.
The promissory note, offering 2% interest rate including tax, will be overdue in 36 months since the issuance date.

Saranacentral Bajata plans to IPO 30% shares

2011-09-28T12:40:00.001+07:00

PT Saranacentral Bajatama is planning to release 30% of its shares to public at the latest in the fourth quarter through initial public offering. The company has appointed PT Makinta Securities as the underwriter.

The steel-related company is seeking to raise IDR120 billion-IDR150 billion. The proceeds will be used to finance company expansion such as plant construction.

Charoen Pokphand raise US$250 million loan

2011-09-27T16:55:00.002+07:00

PT Charoen Pokphand Indonesia Tbk has sealed US$250 million loan from syndication of 13 banks, used for a debt refinancing, funding its capital expenditure and working capital.

The signing of such memorandum of loan agreement was held yesterday. Those 13 banks include Citi, PT Bank Central Asia Tbk, DBS Bank Ltd/PT Bank DBS Indonesia, PT Bank Mandiri Tbk, and Singapore’s branch, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.

Other banks are PT Bank ICBC Indonesia, PT Bank Mizuho Indonesia, PT ANZ Panin Bank, PT Bank Rabobank International Indonesia, Singapore’s branch, PT Bank Commonwealth Chang Hwa Commercial Bank Ltd, Offshore Banking of Mega International Commercial Bank Co Ltd and Labuan’s branch, Cathay United Bank.

The company plans to fund working capital and business expansion up to 2013. The facility is consisting of two loan facilities with US$100 million amortization in both rupiah and US dollar. The facility will due in 5 years. The revolving US$150 million credit facility in both currencies will due in 3 years and has 2 years renewal option. Around US$50 million is channeled for syndication refinancing in 2007 and US$200 million for working capital.

Trakindo take over 3 hectare land in Rasuna Epicentrum

2011-09-27T16:49:00.003+07:00

Heavy equipment provider Trakindo Group had acquired 3 hectare land in Rasuna Epicentrum area for IDR525 billion, where it will build office complex.

CEO Bakrie Swasakti Utama Sri Hascaryo revealed that the acquisition had been completed in the end of July.

Bakrie Swasakti is a subsidiary of PT Bakrieland Development Tbk that constructs a superblock project of Rasuna Epicentrum on 53.5 hectare land in Kuningan, Jakarta.

“Trakindo is designing the construction of 40-floor office building,” he told me last night.

He said the transaction was profitable because there is an acceleration of land capacity utilization in Rasuna Epicentrum area.Now, Bakrie Swasakti provides opportunities to form cooperation with strategic partners in Rasuna Epicentrum after its main partner, subsidiary of Dubai World Limitless Holding LLC, still gets stuck on financial restructuring as an impact of 2008 monetary crisis.

Previously, Limitless had agreed to acquire 30% shares of the Bakrieland’s subsidiary for US$110 million.

PT KAI seeking IDR7 trilion loan

2011-09-27T07:16:00.000+07:00

Indonesia’s state owned railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia is seeking for IDR7 trillion of fund, to develop greater Jakarta and Soekarno Hatta airport railways.
President Director of Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) Ignasius Jonan said it will use IDR5 trillion of the amount to increase the capacity of trains operated in Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi (Jabodetabek) from 400,000 passengers per day to 1.5 million.
The remaining IDR2 trillion will be used to finance airport railway project. The project would comprise a 7-kilometer track connecting Tanah Tinggi station in Tangerang and the Soekarno-Hatta international airport. It has already been connected to Manggarai station with a track developed by the Transportation Ministry.
If the new railway completed, the route which will be named the commuter line is going to connect Manggarai station, Sudirman, Tanah Abang, Duri, Grogol, Kalideres, Tanah Tinggi and Soekarno-Hatta Airport.
The government will add another 33-kilometer express line between Manggarai station and the airport, via Angke in West Jakarta and Pluit in North Jakarta.
Beside the airport railway in Jakarta, the company has also set aside IDR200 billion-IDR250 billion from its internal cash to establish airport railway in Kuala Namu, Medan, North Sumatera.

Govt named Gatot Mardi & Megananda for BRI

2011-09-27T07:13:00.002+07:00

Ministry of State Owned Enterprises named two of its Deputy, Gatot Mardi and Megananda Daryono, as candidates for PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia Tbk’s new management.
My source revealed that Gatot Mardi, Assistant to SOEs Minister Deputy in Banking Affaires and Megananda Daryono, Deputy of SOE Minister in Primary Industry, were proposed by SOEs Ministry officials to the Final Assessor Team and Acting SOEs Minister.
At the moment, Coordinating Minister of Economy, Hatta Rajasa serves as the acting SOEs Minister since Mustafa Abubakar-The SOE's ministry--is undergoing medical treatment in Singapore for heart-health issue.
“Whether or not they will be passed, it depends on Final Assessor Team. Gatot is plotted to serve as director while Megananda as commissioner," he said yesterday.
Bank Rakyat’s extraordinary general meeting of shareholders, to be held on 28 September, schedules a change in board of commissioner and/or its board of directors.

BNI manage US$18 billion fund from Mahakam Block

2011-09-22T11:49:00.003+07:00

PT Bank Negara Indonesia Tbk is appointed as trustee and paying agent to manage US$18 billion (IDR162 trillion) raised from the gas sale contract of Mahakam Block which involve in three oil-gas companies.

The state-controlled bank will manage the fund for a 10-year period and its Singapore branch will be the paying agent. State-owned oil company PT Pertamina, Total E&P Indonesie and Inpex Corporation are the three oil-gas companies being the contractors of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) of Mahakam Block.
The agreement on the bank appointment was signed by Pertamina Finance Director M. Afdal Bahaudin, Total E&P Indonesie President Director Elisabeth Proust, Inpex Corporation Indonesia Asset Director Corporation Yutaka Inoue and BNI President Director Gatot M. Suwondo.

Head of Oil and Gas Upstream Operating Agency R. Priyono also attended the signing, which took place on the sideline of a conference and exhibition at Jakarta Conference Hall Wednesday. BNI has received 1% of the transaction amount, a considered good fee from the contractors.

Kahlil move to Bakrie & Brothers

2011-09-21T13:20:00.002+07:00

PT Bakrie & Brothers Tbk picks Kahlil Rowter as a Chief Economist. Formerly he is the Chief Executive Officer of PT Pefindo since 2007.

His experiences include: Senior VP - Chief Economist for CIMB-GK Securities Indonesia, Executive VP - Chief Economist for Mandiri Sekuritas, Executive VP - Head of Research for Mandiri Sekuritas, Economist and Fixed Income Analyst for Nusantara Capital and VP-Head of Fixed Income Research Division for PT Danareksa.

His other activities include teaching at Magister Manajemen Universitas Indonesia and at the Faculty of Economy Universitas Indonesia as well as engaged in various international and domestic seminars.

Kahlil earned his BA in Economics from Universitas Indonesia and M.A. in Economics specializing in Labor Economics, Industrial Organization and Econometrics from Michigan State University USA.

IDB sell stake in Bank Muamalat

2011-09-21T11:54:00.002+07:00

Islamic Development Bank (IDB) plans to sell its stock ownership in PT Bank Muamalat Indonesia Tbk to raise some proceeds to fund its business expansion in other countries.

Bank Muamalat is the second largest sharia bank in Indonesia by assets. Also known as the oldest Islamic-based bank in Indonesia, it booked IDR23.65 trillion assets at end of June.

IDB holds 32.82% shares of Bank Muamalat, while Boubyan Bank Kuwait holds 24.94% and Atwill Holdings Limited has 17,95%. The other shareholders have not more than 5%.Those three major shareholders have earlier planned to release their shares for different motives.

IDB’s main motivation is the internal regulation limiting ownership in a sharia bank at 20%. IDB has a new regulation stating that ownership in banks should not exceed 20%. In Muamalat it has 32%, and it will decrease the shares to below 20%

Boubyan Bank’s motive of divestment, in the meantime, to face the influence from the 2008 financial crisis, forcing the bank to limit its business only in Middle East area.

Moreover, Bank Muamalat's divestment plan has to be delayed since there is no price agreement between the shareholders and potential investors, both from Indonesia and abroad.

Clipan Finance rights issue IDR468.6 billion

2011-09-21T11:41:00.004+07:00

PT Clipan Finance Indonesia Tbk seeks to raise as much as IDR468.6 billion selling 1.17 billion new shares in a rights offer in October to boost working capital, the company said in a statement published today.
Existing shareholders can buy nine new shares at IDR400 a piece for every 20 shares they hold, the Indonesian consumer financing services company said in the statement.
The company picks PT Evergreen Capital as a stand by buyer. Clipan Finance also plans to issue IDR500 billion bonds and pick PT Indo Premier Securities and Evergreen Capital as a underwriter.

Siam Cement take over Chandra Asri

2011-09-20T14:47:00.002+07:00

The Siam Cement Public Company Limited, Thailand’s largest cement producer, has acquired 30% of shares in PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk, producer of ethylene and propylene.

Siam Cement take over through its unit, to expand chemical business in Indonesia. Standard & Poor's Ratings Services announced today that SCG Chemical's proposal to buy 30% shares of Chandra Asri (B+/Stable/--) has no impact on the rating on the latter.
Siam Cement unit SCG Chemicals Company Limited signed the agreement on the IDR3.76 trillion transaction, on September 19, 2011 with PT Barito Pacific Tbk and Appleton Investments Limited as the sellers.
It agreed to buy 218.52 million of Barito's shares in Chandra Asri and 701.34 million of Appleton's shares, priced at IDR4,088 per share. Both equal to 30% of Chandra Asri's outstanding shares.
The company, in a statement filed to Thailand Stock Exchange today, said Barito Pacific will remain the controlling shareholder of Chandra Asri, the leading integrated petrochemical complex operator in Indonesia.
Chandra Asri booked US$1.86 billion in sales last year. It produces polyethylene, polypropylene, styrene monomer and various other olefins products. Its production facilities are located in Cilegon, a major coastal industrial city in Banten, West Java, Indonesia.

Sany Group invest US$200 million in Indonesia

2011-09-20T14:45:00.001+07:00

Sany Group, a China-based machinery construction company, will build a heavy equipment plant in Indonesia through its subsidiary Sany Heavy Industry Co. Ltd. with an investment of US$200 million or IDR1.7 trillion this year.
With such investment, Sany Group will make Indonesia as its export and production base of heavy equipment, construction machinery, as well as marketing network expansion.
The Group will set up heavy equipment assembly plant on a 10 hectares of Karawang industrial area, West Java. It established PT Sany Indonesia Machinery as the plant construction care-taker.
To smoothen the investment, Sany Indonesia tied up with PT Jakarta International Machinery Centre (Jimac) as the authorized distributor of Sany Group’s heavy equipment product in Indonesia. Sany Group is one of China's largest heavy equipment principal with a sales turnover of about IDR76 trillion per year.
Some of its heavy equipment product includes concrete machinery, excavators, crawler and truck cranes, pile driving machinery, machinery for highway construction, machinery for the port, and wind turbines.

Sany Group was established in 1989. At that time, Sany Group is a small welding company. The founders are Liang Wengen, Tang Xiuguo, Mao Zhongwu and Yuan Jinhua, who changed Sany into a multinational company.
It has production bases in the US, Germany, India and Brazil as well as 24 distribution companies around the world. Nowadays, Sany Group's total workforce in 120 countries reached 60,000 people.

Bukit Asam raise US$219.78 million loan from BNI

2011-09-16T15:51:00.004+07:00

PT Bukit Pembangkit Innovative, an subsidiary of PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam Tbk, raise US$219.78 million loan from PT Bank Negara Indonesia Tbk. The loan will allocated to build Banjarsari steam power plant in South Sumatera.

Corporate Secretary of Bukit Asam Achmad Sudarto said the 2x110 megawatts power plant is expected to finish in mid 2014. The project is located in Lahat distric. A China-based company China National Electric Engineering Co. Ltd has been appointed as a contractor of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of Banjarsari steam power plant.

Meanwhile, PT Citacontrac, an Indonesia-based company, will develop the transmission network from Banjarsari steam power plant to Lahat main station length of 24 kilometres. Currently, Bukit Asam owns 59.75% of Bukit Pembangkit’s shares.

7 Banks support loan for Bakrie Plantations

2011-09-16T15:40:00.003+07:00

PT Bakrie Sumatera Plantations Tbk, the Indonesian plantations and olechemical company own by Bakrie Group, is teaming up with seven banks to realize its US$210 million debt restructuring plan.
Those seven banks will provide loans to settle the company’s existing debt. Among the bank, there are four banks give around US$10 million loan. The new loan matures within 5 years with interest rate of 7% per year. This rate may further rise according to the market condition, to 10% of maximum.

Formerly, the company sought US$250 million of loan, maturing in five years from PT Bank International Indonesia, Credit Suisse Group AG and Raiffeisen Bank International AG. It will be used to refinance its debt.
The company expected to refinance its US$210 million of debt this month, consisting of US$185 million bonds maturing on 1 November 2011 and its subsidiaries’ debt ranging from US$20 million-US$25 million.
Next year, the company has the option to seek more loan to settle US$150 million bonds issued by its subsidiaries.

This year, Bakrie Plantations focuses to develop its oleo chemical unit as the market abroad keep growing especially in the developed country. The revenue contribution from this unit is expected to significantly soar by 20% this year compared to 1% last year. The company produced 150 ton oleo chemical per day.

Asian Agri allegedly makes Indonesia losses IDR1.29 trillion

2011-09-16T15:37:00.002+07:00

An experts at Financial and Development Supervisory Agency revealed the governmnet has been harmed at least IDR1.29 trillion of loss by PT Asian Agri, due to unpaid taxes.
Head of Investigation at Financial and Development Supervisory Board (BPKP) Jakarta region Arman Sahri disclosed the potential loss in the court, while representing the prosecutor to review the tax fraud lawsuit against Suwir Laut, former Manager of Asian Agri at the Central Jakarta District Court yesterday.
The loss, as he continued, is concluded from comparing the audited Asian Agri Group's Annual Tax Letter, submitted to Tax Office Tanah Abang I and II, with the general book and audit by public accounting firm upon the company's financial report.
The investigation was carried only to 10 units, out of 14 units of the suspected business entities. "There are four other units that we can not submit yet to the panel of judges," he said.
The modus Asia Agri had used to avoid the tax obligation, as he explained, is to sell products to its overseas affiliated companies in very low prices. "Another modus is paying several consultant services which then included as expenses, but in fact they never exist."
The company also sold their products with a very low price, while the cost of goods sold was heavily marked up from the exact value.
The alleged tax fraud was uncovered after the former financial controller of the group named Vincentius Amin Sutanto disclosed it to the Corruption and Eradication Commission in late 2006.
The case was taken over by the investigator from Directorate General of Taxation in January 2007. At the end of the investigation, tax investigators suspected the tax case fraud has made the government loss IDR1.4 trillion of tax income.
Vincentius had been sentenced to prison for 11 years, after his judicial review was rejected by the Supreme Court.

Sawit Mas raise IDR1.34 trilion loan

2011-09-15T19:37:00.004+07:00

PT BW Plantation Tbk through PT Sawit Sukses Sejahtera obtained credit facility from PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia Tbk (BRI), with a total value amounting to IDR1.34 trillion.

Sawit Sukses is a subsidiary of BW Plantation, which was founded in 1995. BW Plantation ownership in this company is 99.99%.

BW Plantation Director Pointo Pratento said the loans are not only for investment credits worth IDR1.25 trillion at maximum, but also working capital loan up to IDR46.5 billion to develop its subsidiaries’ business.

"We hereby inform that on September, our subsidiaries, Sawit Sukses Sejahtera has signed a credit agreement with Bank Rakyat Indonesia, consisting of investment credit, working capital and this transaction," he said in a disclosure submitted to Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) yesterday.

The investment credit consists of plantation investment worth IDR1.03 trillion with 8 year-tenor and the palm oil mill (PKS) construction investment amounting to IDR221.50 billion with 11 year-tenor and interest expense of 10% per year.
The amount of IDR1.03 trillion is included with the interest during construction on the accrued expense payable by IDR179, 90 billion, while the amount of IDC for PKS development credit is IDR18.5 billion.
On the other hand, the working capital loan worth IDR46.50 billion has similar interest rate, but it only has 48 months or 4 years of tenor. The proceeds will be used for Sawit Sukses’ productive plants maintenance.
"This temporary loan transaction is excluded from those classified as material transactions referring to Capital Market and Financial Institution Supervisory Agency's [Bapepam-LK] Regulation IX.E.2 concerning Material Transaction and Change of Main Business Activities," said Pointo.
On the investment credit, he explained the fund could be withdrawn gradually since 2011 until maximum period of 5 years after the facility was signed, while working capital loan can be withdrawn gradually from next year until 2013.
The loan is secured with the right to cultivate for an area of 20,220 hectares in Senyiur Village, East Kutai District of East Kalimantan. The plants, properties and equipments and the mill building to be constructed are still owned by Sawit Sukses.
BW Plantation management once set a target of adding 10,000 hectares of land each year to expand its land bank within 2011-2014.
Beside Sawit Sukses Sejahtera, the company has six other subsidiaries. They are PT Wanacatur Jaya Utama, PT Adhyaksa Dharmasatya, PT Satria Manunggal Sejahtera, PT Agrolestari Kencana Makmur, and PT Bumilanggeng Perdanatrada.
Bumilanggeng also has a subsidiary named PT Bumihutani Lestari. All of the subsidiaries and sub-subsidiaries are focus in palm oil plantation.

Antam pick 3 underwriter

2011-09-15T19:25:00.003+07:00

PT Aneka Tambang Tbk, Indonesia's gold and nickel producer has appointed three underwriters to handle the first stage bond issuance, valuing IDR1.3 trillion (US$150 million) in November this year.

Those three underwriters are Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Mandiri Sekuritas.

According to the plan, the bond values US$150 million and happens to be the first stage of Antam’s series of bond issuance process that is worth to US$350 million in total.

Bank Mandiri consortium consists of Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Bank Rakyat Indonesia, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Standard Chartered Bank.

The proceeds will be used to fund Feronikel Halmahera project (FeNi Halmahera). The company is scheduled to hold road show to several countries in the second half this year.

The above mentioned project is Antam’s strategic project as it is exploited to raise its nickel reserves. This project will have 27,000 ton nickel output capacity in ferronickel. The financing costs US$1 billion excluding the power generator construction of PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN).

The state controlled nickel producer plans to hold groundbreaking project in the end of this year while the commercial activities is expected to begin in the end of 2014.Antam will fund US$1 billion where US$350 million will be derived from bonds issuance and US$650 million is generated from project financing scheme. In the meantime PLN will finance US$600 million to construct 260 megawatt power generator.

Pegadaian plans to accelarate IDR700 billion debt payment

2011-09-13T08:27:00.003+07:00

Perum Pegadaian, Indonesian state-owned pawn shop, plans to acccelerate IDR700 billion debty payment to PT Bank Negara Indonesia Tbk, PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia Tbk, and PT Bank Mandiri Tbk.

Pegadaian plans to pay each IDR300 billion to BRI and Bank Mandiri. The company also pay IDR100 billion to BNI.

Pegadaian plans to sell IDR2 trillion rupiah of bonds in two stages with the first IDR1 trillion to be sold next month for working capital and to reduce bank loans. The first bonds will be offered from Oct. 3 through Oct. 6, the company said. PT Bahana Securities and PT Danareksa Sekuritas will helps Pegadaian as a underwriter.

Astratel take over toll road operator

2011-09-07T06:54:00.002+07:00

PT Astratel Nusantara, the highway construction unit of PT Astra International Tbk, agreed to buy control of a toll-road operator in East Java in a move to boost its business.

The company will spend Rp 750 billion ($88 million) to acquire the toll road, and it will use its own funds to finance the acquisition, Astratel said on Tuesday. The company signed the deal with Natpac Graha Arthamas, the toll road’s existing shareholder, on Aug. 25, according to the statement.

Astratel bought a 95 percent stake in the 40.5-kilometer toll-road linking Kertosono and Mojokerto, in East Java. Both regencies are located in the suburb of Surabaya, the second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta.

The acquisition lifts Astratel’s portfolio in toll roads to three from two that it controls: the 72.5-kilometer toll road linking Merak and Serpong in Banten province and the 12.5-kilometer one linking Serpong and Kunciran. Serpong is located in West Jakarta. The toll road will give Astratel three concessions with total investment estimated to reach Rp 3.4 trillion, the company said in a statement in Jakarta.

Indonesia plans to boost infrastructure development such as seaports and toll roads to spur economic growth to 6.7 percent in 2012 from a projected 6.5 percent this year and 6.1 percent in 2010. Poor infrastructure has been hampering Indonesia’s more than $700 billion economy.

Temasek increased shares in CCB

2011-09-06T10:16:00.004+07:00

Temasek Holdings Pte, Singapore's state-owned investment company, bought shares in China
Construction Bank Corp. for as much as HK$21.7 billion ($2.8 billion) about eight weeks after paring its holdings.

Temasek purchased 4.4 billion shares of the CCB, world's second largest bank lender by market value, paying as much as HK$4.94 a share and increasing its stake to 8.1 percent from 6.27 percent, according to a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange yesterday.

Formerly, CCB reportedly plans to acquire PT Bank Maspion Indonesia. However, the official plot is not yet delivered to Bank Indonesia (BI).

Carrefour Indonesia plans to transform Alfa Retailindo

2011-09-04T12:47:00.002+07:00

Carrefour Indonesia, the nation’s largest retailer, is planning to transform up to four Alfa Retailindo outlets into upscale supermarkets next year to cater to the premium market in the capital. The company planning to develop a premium concept, and currently still looking for suitable locations.

Carrefour is planning to open the premium outlets early next year and wants to turn between two and four Alfa outlets into premium outlets each year. Carrefour had already turned several Alfa outlets into Carrefour Markets — a hypermarket concept with a focus on fresh products, food and beverages — and Carrefour Express, a supermarket sized at less than 3,500 square meters.

The company was for now only planning to develop the premium outlets in Jakarta, because of demand for premium products in the capital. So, there will be more fresh products, such as organic variants.

Alfa Retailindo reported a profit of IDR9.9 billion in the first half, compared with a loss of IDR2.2 billion a year earlier. Established in 1989, the company listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) in January 2000. In 2008, Carrefour Indonesia bought a 79.9 percent stake in Alfa Retailindo, making it the company’s majority stakeholder. Last year, Carrefour Indonesia bought the remaining shares owned by Sigmantara Alfindo, lifting its ownership to 99.54 percent.

Adira picks 4 underwriter

2011-08-23T20:50:00.002+07:00

PT Adira Dinamika Multifinance Tbk appointed PT Indo Premier Securities, PT Mandiri Sekuritas, PT Standard Chartered Securities, and PT CIMB Securities Indonesia as the underwriters of the bond issuance plan. It is expected that the bonds can be issued in November 2011. Adira plans to issues IDR1.5 trilion bonds with tenure 1 year-3 years.

Nusantara Infratructure build US$250 million sea port

2011-08-23T19:56:00.005+07:00

PT Nusantara Infrastructure Tbk, one of the Indonesia’s largest listed builders, plans to construct sea ports this year as part of its US$250 million investment expansion in water projects.

The company targets cities with populations of more than 1.5 million people, indicating that metropolises on Java and Sumatra islands top the list.

The company is currently researching numerous potential locations in Indonesia, which includes underused property locations, but refused to reveal more details about the plans.

The Indonesian government set Rp 168.1 trillion in the state budget for infrastructure for 2012, up 19 percent from this year, which is set at Rp 150.9 trillion. Nusantara is also bidding for a public-private partnership project to build a sea port in Kalibaru, North Jakarta. The project is valued at up to IDR11.7 trillion.

On Monday, the company gained shareholders’ approval to refinance a bank loan amounting to IDR750 billion, so that it can take advantage of low borrowing costs. The company moved its eight-year bank loan, used for three subsidiaries, from PT Bank Mega Tbk to PT Bank Central Asia Tbk at a rate lower than the current 13 percent.

Bumi reiterates schedule for $600 Million debt payment

2011-08-22T17:49:00.003+07:00

PT Bumi Resources Tbk, Indonesia largest coal exporter, maintains its worst scenario schedule to pay down $600 million of its $1.9 billion debt to China Investment Corp. in the fourth quarter of this year.

The second tranche of another $600 million will be paid in the fourth quarter of 2012 and the rest in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Bumi's first half net profit was $278.6 million, compared with a restated $271 million in the same period a year earlier. Bumi had said last year its first half 2010 net profit was $134.6 million.
Bumi, which the politically connected Bakrie family and Nathaniel Rothschild control via London-listed Bumi Plc , plans to repay the first $600 million tranche of a $1.9 billion loan to the China Investment Corporation (CIC) in October.
Bumi has increased its forecast for 2011 average coal prices to $90 per tonne, higher than its previous forecast of $77 per tonne, due to stronger demand from India and China. Production is seen at 66 million tonnes this year.

BII picks 6 underwriter

2011-08-22T17:34:00.003+07:00

PT Bank Internasional Indonesia Tbk picks 6 securities companies to arrange IDR6 triliun bond sale. The firts step, BII will sell IDR2.5 trilion senior bonds and IDR500 billion subordinates bond (subdebt bond).

Subdebt bond has become alternative among banks to boost up the (capital adequacy ratio/CAR). Half of the bond issuance could be used for the entrance to second tier so the CAR of a bank is increasing.

PT Bahana Securities, PT DBS Securities Indonesia, PT Indo Premier Securities, PT HSBC Securities, PT Kim Eng Securities, and PT OSK Nusadana Securities will help BII to sale the bonds.

BII last week announced net income in the six months ended June 30 rose 13 percent from a year earlier to IDR367 billion. BII registered a 19% rise in gross operating income for the 12 months ended June 2011 to IDR6.04 trillion from IDR5.07 trillion a year earlier.

Net interest income surged 21.8% to IDR4.03 trillion despite a narrowing of net interest margin from 5.63% in June 2010 to 5.43% in June 2011, while non-interest income grew 13.8% to Rp2.01 trillion.

Profit before tax rose 28.8% to IDR782 billion from IDR607 billion a year earlier. Loan loss provisioning rose 20.1% to IDR1.26 trillion, mainly due to higher provisioning for WOM Finance’s portfolio related to its venture into second hand motorcycle financing. However, WOM has now curtailed the financing for this segment and is redefining the used motorcycle financing business model and distribution model to improve its asset quality.

BII saw asset quality continue to improve with net impaired loans ratio declining further to 1.22% in June 2011 from 1.87% in June 2010. Its capital position remains strong with Capital Adequacy Ratio at 13.06% in June 2011 compared with 12.50% in December 2010.

BII’s network expansion remains on track with 70 branches opened in the past 12 months bringing the total to 344 as at June 2011. The number of self service terminals throughout the country has also risen significantly over the past year from 844 in June 2010 to 1017 in June 2011.

Darma Henwa sold Coal Vista

2011-08-15T22:01:00.001+07:00

PT Darma Henwa Tbk, leading regional integrated mining company, sold its entire 100percent stake in coal trading company Coal Vista Resources Ltd. to Thionville Financier Ltd. for $80 million. The transaction was completed on Aug. 11.

The company produced 6 million tons, 6 million tons, and 6.6 million tons of coal in 2008, 2009, and 2010 respectively. The figures represent 11.3% and 9.5% respectively of total coal production of KPC and Arutmin Indonesia in those periods.

Darma Henwa turned to US$7.83 million net profit or US$0.36 per share for the first quarter of this year on the back of growth in revenue. Darma Henwa, which is now 28.8% stake owned by Indonesia's largest thermal coal exporter through Zurich Assets, posted a 302.33% jump in its bottom line from US$3.87 million net loss or US$0.16 per share for the first quarter of last year.Operating profit was also in 'blue' of US$13.83 million, a 565.66% jump from an operating loss of US$2.97 million.

CCB plans to take over Bank Maspion

2011-08-11T18:57:00.005+07:00

China Construction Bank Corp., the world's second-largest lender by market value, made a preliminary bid for control of PT Bank Maspion Indonesia.

Bank Maspion plan to sell more than 50 percent of the lender, which is valued at about $200 million. A stake sale to a strategic buyer may help Surabaya-based Maspion expand its business catering to small and medium-sized companies.

Construction Bank has yet to decide if it will make a binding offer after Indonesia's government last month said it will enact new bank ownership rules this year that may bar Construction Bank
from holding a majority stake.

Bank Indonesia, said it plans to limit a single investor's maximum ownership of commercial banks to improve governance in the industry. Governor BI Darmin Nasution told parliament on July 1 that while the limit will be less than 50 percent, the exact percentage hadn't been decided.
Malaysia and Singapore also impose restrictions on ownership of commercial banks. PT Alim Investindo owns 77.8 percent of Maspion.

Kirana raise US$600 million loan

2011-08-10T19:36:00.003+07:00

PT Kirana Megatara, subdiary Triputra Group raise US$600 million syndication loan with tenor 3 years from 12 bank. Kirana Megatara is currently Indonesia's largest crumb rubber processor and exporter with 14 processing mills in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

Kirana Megatara picks PT Bank CIMB Niaga Tbk, PT Bank Permata Tbk, HSBC Indonesia, dan Standard Chartered Bank Indonesia as a mandated lead arranger.

The company has option to raise additional loan US$200 million. Kirana plans to use US$500 milion loan for working capital. Kirana also plans to use US$100 million loan for develop and acquisition new factory.

The crediturs are Eximbank Indonesia, ICBC Indonesia, Rabobank Indonesia, OCBC Singapura, OCBC NISP, Bank of Tokyo UFJ, Korea Development Bank, and Bank of China.

Garuda purchase US$2.13 billion Airbus

2011-08-10T19:29:00.002+07:00

PT Garuda Indonesia Tbk has finalized the order for $2.13 billion in Airbus aircraft, which will add 25 new planes to its fleet, the airline’s chief financial officer said.

The 25 new Airbus A320s, including 10 fuel-efficient A320neos, will replace the Boeing 737-300s and 737-400s currently flown by Garuda’s low-cost unit, Citilink.

Citilink currently flies five 737s and is expected to receive the new Airbus planes in early 2014. Garuda is expected to announce its engine selection for the purchased aircraft in the near future. Each plane is tagged at $85 million. The purchase will be conducted through lease transactions. Management expected to boost Garuda’s revenue from Citilink from a single-digit rate to 30 percent.

Antam raise US$1 billion loan

2011-08-05T20:12:00.002+07:00

PT Aneka Tambang Tbk, the Indonesia’s largest listed gold miner, has appointed seven financial institutions to help it raise $1 billion, which it will use for the construction of a ferronickel smelter in eastern Indonesia.

The seven firms appointed to help the company raise the funds are Bank Mandiri, Mandiri Sekuritas, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking and Bank Negara Indonesia

The smelter is part of the company’s ferronickel expansion project in East Halmahera, North Maluku. It will support the government’s plan to boost economic growth and will comply with a regulation requiring miners to increase the quality of their product before shipping it overseas. The regulation takes effect in 2014. State power utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara will put up $600 million of its own funds for a power plant that will be part of the project.

Antam’s smelter will have an annual capacity of 27,000 metric tons of nickel. Construction on the project is expected to start by the end of the year and production is scheduled to begin at the end of 2014.

Nickel is used to make ferronickel, a material for processing into stainless steel. In the first half of this year, Antam produced 9,838 tons of nickel contained in ferronickel, up 3 percent from the same period in 2010.

Antam is also upgrading its ferronickel plant in Pomala, South Sulawesi, and is building an aluminum smelter in West Kalimantan. The miner will need $500 million for the Pomala plant, and $1 billion for the West Kalimantan plant. Antam hasn’t said how it would finance the two facilities.

Raam Punjabi, Hendropriyono & Ilham Bintang develop new company

2011-08-03T20:32:00.003+07:00

President Comissioner Blitz Megaplex A.M. Hendropriyono, Multivision owner Raam Punjabi, and Bintang Group founder Ilham Bintang plans to develop new imported film company.

The new company will compete with Omega Film. Formerly, the film import permit owned by Omega Film was blocked by the Finance Ministry because the company allegedly had strong relations to the 21 Cineplex groups which are delinquent in its import taxes payment.

The Finance Ministry’s Customs and Excise Directorate General was allowed again PT Omega Film to import foreign films.

Kresna Graha plans to stock split

2011-08-03T20:09:00.002+07:00

PT Kresna Graha Sekurindo Tbk, financial services company, plans to undertake a stock split with ratio of 1:4. One stock will be divided into 4 stocks.

The plan had been announced in the agenda of shareholders’ meeting. Through the shareholders’ meeting, the company will ask for agreement of shareholders on the corporate action in order to stimulate the stock to be more active in the market.

The stock split action is announced after the company had completed right issue II/2011 in June leading to IDR106.28 billion proceeds.

Through the right issue, about 20% of new stocks had been issued to shareholders with a ratio of 4:1 and a main shareholder, namely PT Kresna Prima Invest acted as a standby buyer.

In addition, the company will also request an approval from investors to allocate the last year’s net income to adjust total shares and dividend per share.

Per June, shareholders of the company are Kresna Prima Invest with 25.06%, UBS AG Singapore with 17.60%, PT Asuransi Jiwa Kresna with 17.42%, Irwan Arsyad with 4.22%, Suryandy Jahja with 1.54%, Michael Steven with 1.34%, Ingrid Kusumodjojo with 1.11%, and public with 31.72%.

Arutmin & Kobe develop new smelter

2011-08-01T21:41:00.003+07:00

Arutmin Indonesia, a subsidiary of coal miner Bumi Resources, and Japanese steel manufacturer Kobe Steel are jointly constructing a smelter that will transform brown coal into higher-quality coal.

It would cost $150 million to build a smelter able to process a million tons of low-grade coal a year into higher-grade coal. The smelter with a capacity of one million to two million tons a year appeared economical.

The smelter, to be built at Tanah Bumbu in South Kalimantan, should be finished by next July. A second facility is planned for South Sumatra. Both plants are being built in response to a new government rule banning exports of low-rank coal starting in 2014.

The smelter would be Indonesia’s first brown coal upgrade facility. It would be able to increase the calorie of coal from 4,500 kilo-calories per kilogram to 6,100 kilo-calories per kilogram.

Hankook Tire build manufacture plant in Indonesia

2011-07-29T09:36:00.003+07:00

South Korea’s largest tire producer, Hankook Tire, plans to invest $1.2 billion to build a manufacturing plant in Indonesia in an effort to snare a greater share of the market.

The Seoul-based company plans to build a tire plant on a 60-hectare block of land in Cikarang, West Java, a province that is home to industrial and manufacturing plants.

Carmakers are forecast to produce one million vehicles a year by 2013 and 1.5 million by 2015, according to the Association of Indonesia Automotive Industries (Gaikindo). Last year car production totaled 650,000 units.

The company will start construction at the site by the second half of next year, and it will spend about $353 million on the first phase of construction. The plant operations to commence by 2014, and within four years it could reach its maximum production capacity of 20 million tires per year.

As part of its global expansion, Hankook Tire is also building tire plants in China and Hungary, and once all its plants are in production, it forecasts manufacturing 100 million tires annually.

Hankook currently supplies tires as an original equipment manufacturer to global automobile makers including Hyundai, Toyota, Ford, General Motors and International Truck and Engine. Hankook is part of a group of South Korean companies that have announced expansion plans in Indonesia. South Korean companies have been aggressive in investing in the country to capitalize on its growing economy and political stability.

Danamon rights issue IDR5 trilion

2011-07-25T12:09:00.004+07:00

PT Bank Danamon Indonesia Tbk, plans to raise as much as IDR5 trillion in a rights offer to fund loan growth and strengthen its capital position.

Bank Danamon will sell about 1.2 billion shares at IDR4,100 to IDR4,800 rupiah each, the company said in a statement published in Bisnis Indonesia newspaper today.

Existing investors will be able to buy as many as 144 shares for every 1,000 they hold, the statement said.

Asia Financial Indonesia, Temasek's wholly-owned unit, has committed to take up its rights entitlement, it said. Asia Financial entitlement is 67.4 percent share of Bank Danamon. The company reported this month that its first-half net income rose 3 percent to 1.47 trillion rupiah from a year earlier, as lending jumped 31 percent in the same period.

Bank Danamon's Tier 1 capital ratio will rise to 17.9 percent after the stock sale from 13.6 percent, the lender said. Citigroup Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG are managing the transaction.

Inpex sell 30% Abadi share to Shell

2011-07-25T11:46:00.003+07:00

Inpex Corp. said its affiliate agreed to sell a 30 percent interest in Indonesia's Abadi offshore liquefied natural gas project to a Royal Dutch Shell Plc. subsidiary.
The company didn't disclose financial terms of the deal in a statement to the Tokyo Stock Exchange today.

Inpex owns 90 percent Masela LNG plant with a capacity of 4.5 mtpa while PT Energy Mega Persada holds the remaining interest.

Inpex will be required to supply the gas to a receiving terminal in Aceh province. Apart from the Masela project, Inpex plans to build a $19.6 billion floating offshore terminal with a capacity of 4.5 million tons to take output from the Abadi field in the Timor Sea.

Inpex had planned to use the new terminal, 200 kilometers south of Saumlaki Island, Maluku, to store gas from the Abadi field in the Timor Sea. Inpex has said that the Abadi field, which is scheduled to start producing natural gas in 2016, could hold reserves of 10 trillion cubic feet.

Alam Sutera plans to issue IDR1.1 trilion bonds

2011-07-22T13:45:00.003+07:00

PT Alam Sutera Realty Tbk, property developer in Serpong, considers the issuance of dollar denominated bonds this year, in amount of IDR1.1 trillion.

Such notion is triggered by lower rate and easier procedures compared to the issuance of rupiah denominated bond issuance.

The company is still reviewing the types of bonds scheduled to be issued in the third quarter this year. Thus, the property developer is yet to appoint any underwriter for such corporate action.

The company, is still facing rating process from Fitch Ratings agency. The entire process is expected to complete by the end of this month.

The proceed bonds will be used to acquire areas in Bali and Jakarta. Regarding the plan to construct theme park, Alam Sutera is now still designing the exact construction, involving foreign designer. The construction process will begin in 2012.

The theme park will employ family park concept on 15 hectare area in Serpong. The investment costs around IDR200 billion-IDR300 billion.

Based on the 1Q/2011 financial statement, Alam Sutera recorded IDR405.05 billion sales income, a rise compared to IDR205.09 billion in the same period at year earlier.The cost of goods sold only rose to IDR195.97 billion compared to the earlier period at IDR117.7 billion, boosting cost of goods sold to IDR209.08 billion compared to IDR87.38 billion in the first quarter of 2010.

The company’s net income in the first three months this year also rose to IDR158.75 billion compared to IDR63.03 billion in the same period last year.As per 31 March 2011, Alam Sutera’s shareholders consist of PT Tangerang Fajar Industrial Estate (16,7%), PT Selaras Citamanunggal (11,86%), PT Manunggal Prima Development( 11,42%), PT Bukit Asri Padang Golf (5,94%), PT Argo Manunggal Land Development (3,97%), and public (50,11%).

Daewoo may win Indonesia's submarine project

2011-07-21T12:50:00.001+07:00

Indonesia's Goverment is close to picking Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) as the priority negotiating partner for a submarine project worth US$1.08 billion.

Once the deal is secured, DSME will sell three 1,200-t 209-class submarines to the Southeast Asian country. It would be Korea's biggest arms export, more than double the value of the $400 million export of T-50 supersonic trainer jets to Indonesia and similar to last year's total arms exports of $1.19 billion. Daewoo was up against powerhouses like Germany, France and Russia to win the contract.

Govt value Inalum US$700 million

2011-07-20T10:59:00.002+07:00

The government said on Tuesday that it would spend $700 million to buy the stake held by Nippon Asahan Aluminium in their joint venture Indonesia Asahan Aluminium.

The government will purchase NAA’s 58.9 percent stake in the firm known as Inalum before its working contract ends in 2013.

The Indonesian government, NAA and Japan’s Ministry of International Trade and Industry began negotiations over the sale last year. They continued discussions in February, but those talks produced no results.

The government presented two ownership options for Inalum — that it take full ownership of the company, or that it take a majority stake and allow NAA to continue as a minority partner. The $2 billion joint venture includes a hydro power plant and an aluminum smelter.

The Japanese company wanted to extend its contract for another 30 years by offering a fresh investment of more than $300 million aimed at boosting aluminum production capacity by 80,000 tons per year.

Inalum was set up in 1978 under a build, own and transfer contract that expires in 2013. Inalum’s production of 230,000 tons of aluminum a year accounts for 40 percent of total domestic output.

Dayamitra raise IDR1 trilion loan

2011-07-20T10:52:00.001+07:00

PT Dayamitra Telekomunikasi, a unit of PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia, obtained a 1 trillion rupiah loan from PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia.

The loan will be used for capital expenditure this year, including buying and building telecommunication towers.

PIP plans to take over Inalum

2011-07-18T07:51:00.003+07:00

With a stake sale of gold miner Newmont Nusa Tenggara in limbo, the government has set its eyes on the divestment in 2013 of another company controlled by foreigners — Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Inalum).

Government Investment Center (PIP) will try to buy all of the shares Inalum offered. After PIP purchases the shares in Inalum, the government will open bidding for domestic companies that want to be involved in the Indonesia-Japan joint venture

The government’s involvement in Inalum, through PIP, is part of the state’s effort to boost revenue from companies engaged in mining industries by closely guarding governance.

Inalum was set up in 1978 under a build, own and transfer contract, which expires in 2013. Tokyo-based Nippon Asahan Aluminium, or NAA, controls 58.9 percent, valued at $726 million, with the Indonesian government owning the remainder.

The government has presented two ownership options for Inalum — that the government take 100 percent of the company, or that it would take a majority stake and NAA could continue as a minority partner. Inalum’s output of 230,000 tons of aluminum a year accounts for 40 percent of total domestic production. About 70 percent of Inalum’s output is exported to Japan.

The provincial government of North Sumatra, where Inalum is located, has expressed interest in the divested shares, local media reported. It has been in talks with nine district governments to form a consortium that would take over the Japanese share.

Last month the government offered a combined quarter of a 7 percent stake in Newmont Mining’s NNT to the local administrations in the region where the firm’s lucrative copper and gold mine is located. Under a 1986 working contract, NNT was required to divest 51 percent of its shares to Indonesian entities by 2010. Much of the NNT’s divestment debate centered on the regional and local administrations vying for the 7 percent stake, which is valued at $246.8 million. Domestic companies own 44 percent of the miner’s Indonesian unit.

Danamon picks Citi, Deutsche, & Danareksa

2011-07-15T11:39:00.003+07:00

PT Bank Danamon Indonesia Tbk was announced that the bank intends to raise equity capital by way of a renounceable rights issue. In this regard, the Bank has lodged a rights issue plan with Bapepam-LK and IDX.

Danamon have appointed Citi and Deutsche Bank as standby purchasers and PT Danareksa Sekuritas as arranger.

As of March 31, 2011, Danamon has a capital position with consolidated and stand alone Capital
Adequacy Ratios (CAR) of 14.7% and 12.1%, respectively, which are well above the minimum requirements of 8% set by Bank Indonesia. The rights issue will further strengthen the bank’s capital position

As of March 31, 2011, Danamon was 67.4% owned by Asia Financial (Indonesia) Pte. Ltd. and 32.6% by the public.

BFI Finance hired Deutsche & Standard

2011-07-14T14:58:00.003+07:00

PT BFI Finance Indonesia, based consumer finance company, hired Deutsche Bank AG and
Standard Chartered Plc to help it borrow at least $50 million-US$60 million

The three-year term loan may be increased after a strong response from banks in syndication and the facility may be signed as early as this month.

BFI is a financing company which focuses its business on automotive consumer financing and leasing services.On May 19, the number one executive of PT Adaro Energy Tbk, Boy Garibaldi Thohir acquired around 45% non-controlling shares of PT BFI Finance Indonesia Tbk through Trinugraha Capital & Co (TC&Co).

Garibaldi Thohir led a consortium that involved TPG Capital and Northstar Equity Partners, founded by former banker Goldman Sach Patrick Walujo, as an investor in TC&Co.TPG Capital is one of global investment units of TPG, being established in 1992 with the total asset reaching US$48 billion.

In the meantime, Northstar Equity Partners is a financial investment company focusing in Indonesia while Trinugraha Capital & Co happens to be a financial company being stablished in Luxemburg.

State owned bank encouraged to buy Bank Mutiara

2011-07-13T14:06:00.002+07:00

Government urges state-controlled banks to participate in Bank Mutiara's bidding process by Indonesian Deposit Insurance Corporation (Lembaga Penjamin Simpanan/LPS).

As known, LPS as the major shareholder (99.96 percent) in Bank Mutiara will open a bidding process for an ownership in the previously named PT Bank Century Tbk next August.

Bank Mutiara will be offered at minimum price IDR6.7 trillion, LPS Executive Head Firdaus Djaelani informed. The amount is equivalent to the bailout fund given to the bank.

Based on LPS calculation, Bank Mutiara owns IDR11 trillion asset with adquate equity and business propect.

Tata plans entering Indonesia for production base

2011-07-13T13:34:00.003+07:00

Indian automaker Tata Motors’ plans to make Indonesia its production base for “the world’s cheapest car,” the Nano.

Tata had decided to scrap its initial plan to manufacture the cars in Thailand, where it built two other models for the Southeast Asian market. However, the country’s investment chief said negotiations were already in advanced stages.

Tata was still doing feasibility studies and that the government might give the Indian firm a tax break if the project proved beneficial. Tata hopes to build 50,000 Nanos per year at a plant in the outskirts of Jakarta starting in 2013. It will sell the cars in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines as well as Indonesia.

The Nano, launched in India in 2009 amid fanfare for its stripped-down $2,500 price tag, would likely cost about IDR45 million in Indonesia due to higher taxes. Tata was meet Industry Minister MS Hidayat but needs time to test the demand in the market for its products.

Chinese low-cost car manufacturer Geely produces Indonesia’s lowest-priced car, the 1,300cc Panda at IDR98 million. It is eyeing a 300 percent increase in sales to 2,500 units this year.

The Indonesian market is currently dominated by Japanese cars, which comprise more than 90 percent of market share.

BI kept interest rate unchanged

2011-07-13T12:31:00.002+07:00

The central bank left its key interest rate unchanged on Tuesday in a bid to spur economic growth amid stable inflation and a strong rupiah.

“The benchmark rate at the current level still supports economic growth amid ample liquidity in the market and persistent inflow of capital,” BI said in a statement on Tuesday.

The bank last shifted its monetary policy in February, when it raised the rate by a quarter percentage point.

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported this month that the annualized inflation rate slowed in June to 5.54 percent — the lowest in a year — from 5.98 percent in May, as chili prices eased after soaring last year.

Costs of chili, a staple on many dinner tables, rose when severe weather disrupted harvests and hurt supplies. The June inflation figure was still within BI’s target range of 4 percent to 6 percent this year.

Net foreign direct investment is forecast to rise to $16.7 billion this year from more than $13 billion last year.

Australia lifts ban on cattle exports

2011-07-07T11:34:00.003+07:00

The Australian government has lifted its ban on live cattle exports to Indonesia on the condition that stricter regulations be imposed on industry participants. Australia’s agriculture minister, Joe Ludwig, said the government was lifting the ban, imposed a month ago after allegations of mistreatment at slaughterhouses here, but did not say when exports would resume.

Australia banned cattle exports to Indonesia on June 7 after the broadcast of footage showing the mistreatment of Australian cattle in 12 Indonesian slaughterhouses.

Elders Ltd., Australia's largestrural-services supplier, and rival cattle exporters said it will
take a month to resume sales to Indonesia after Australia yesterday lifted a ban imposed to prevent animal cruelty.

Shipments may resume in the first week of August, Elders said today in a statement to the Australian stock exchange, reiterating the suspension may cost the Adelaide-based company
as much as A$7.3 million ($7.8 million).

Australia's live-cattle exports to Indonesia fell 38percent to 445,000 heads in the year ended June 30 after the Asian nation restricted import permits and enforced weight limits, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural & Resource Economics & Sciences said.

Chairul Tanjung buy detik.com for US$60 million

2011-07-07T09:19:00.005+07:00

Tycoon Chairul Tanjung agree to buy Agranet Multicitra Siberkom which operates Indonesia biggest news portal, detik.com for US$60 million.

Budiono Darsono, founder of detik.com, declined to comment about the price. "We negotiations with Chairul Tanjung for a long time, 2 years."

Detik.com was founded in 1998 by Budiono Darsono, Abdul Rahman, Yayan Sopyan, Calvin Lukmantara, and Didi Nugrahadi with initial capital IDR40 million.

Budiono and Abdul Rahman a former senior journalist at Tempo magazine. The portal was set up as the country’s first online media platform after the Detik tabloid, Budiono’s previous employer, and Tempo were liquidated by former President Suharto.

According to Alexa.com, which ranks Internet traffic and page view data, detik.com was as the 11th most popular Web site in Indonesia behind Facebook, Google, Blogger, Yahoo, YouTube, Kaskus, WordPress and Twitter. It ranked first in terms of news portals, followed by Vivanews and Kompas.

Panorama raise IDR60.3 billion loan from Mandiri

2011-07-07T08:51:00.003+07:00

PT Panorama Transportasi Tbk, transportation and tourism company, was secured IDR60.3 billion loan facility from PT Bank Mandiri Tbk, to purchase new fleet this year.

The loan will be utilized to purchase 100 units of Hyundai Starex Mover used as premium taxi and 20 units of Mercedes-Benz OH 1526 bus as tourism bus, said Panorama Transportasi Director Sudjasmin Djambiar.

“The signing of such loan agreement will be held on 27 June,” he said during an information disclosure to Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) yesterday.

He explained that the disbursement period lasts for 12 months subsequent to the loan agreement signing.The collateral of this loan facility includes four types of Hyundai Starex totaling 100 units as well as 20 units of six-wheel car Mercedes Benz OH 1526 bus.

The company plans to purchase new vehicles to back its expansion particularly by adding 20 tourism bus, 100 units of executive taxi, 50 fleets for Daytrans and 150 limousines.

Panorama channeled IDR132 billion of capital expenditure this year or rose compared to last year at IDR128 billion.This capex is used to purchase new fleet as well as to open branch offices in several areas. The capex is mainly sourced from Bank Mandiri as the listed lender committed to provide IDR81 billion loan. Of such amount, the loan has only been disbursed by IDR20 billion until last year. Such bank loan will be used to finance the purchase of 225 new premium taxis, making the total taxi to 300 units. Panorama expects to add 338 fleets this year.

Premium taxi whose target market is the guests of four and five stars hotels give the most significant contribution or up to 50% to Panorama’s revenue. Three other segments, tourism transportation, inter-city transportation and limousine leasing service give equal contribution.

Qatar Islamic Bank cancel plans to acquire Muamalat

2011-07-05T08:49:00.003+07:00

Qatar Islamic Bank has withdrawn as a bidder for PT Bank Muamalat Indonesia. Qatar Islamic along with PT Bank Permata, which is 45 percent owned by Standard Chartered Plc, and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp had sought a controlling stake in Bank Muamalat.
Shareholders of closely-held Bank Muamalat planned to sell more than 50 percent of the lender in a deal worth as much as US$600 million.

United Tractors acquire coal mine in Kalimantan

2011-07-05T07:19:00.002+07:00

PT United Tractors Tbk, Indonesia’s biggest heavy-equipment distributor, it would acquire another coal mine by the end of the month as it seeks to boost revenue from its mining business.

The company was finalizing the purchase of a mine in Kalimantan with estimated reserves of 50 million tons of mid-quality coal. Production is expected to start next year, with the company setting an initial production target of around 500,000 tons annually.

United Tractors raised IDR6.1 trillion in a share sale last month and said it planned to use 45 percent of the proceeds to acquire coal mines. Many companies with interests in coal have been expanding their operations recently to capitalize on rising global coal prices and to meet demand

from fast-growing economies such as China and India.

In the first quarter, United’s consolidated revenue surged 45 percent from the same period last year to Rp 12.65 trillion, and profit before tax rose 38 percent to Rp 2.23 trillion. Construction machinery accounted for 54.1 percent of its revenue, while mining for other companies contributed 35.4 percent during the first quarter. Mining from its own operations was 10.5 percent.

Credit Suisse helps Chairul Tanjung acquire detik.com

2011-07-04T06:42:00.003+07:00

Trans Corpora, own by Tycoon Chairul Tanjung hired Credit Suisse to value detik.com. Chairul Tanjung has agreed to buy Agranet Multicitra Siberkom, which operates the country’s biggest news portal, detik.com.

Trans Corpora operates Trans TV and Trans7, two major television stations. Last year, detik.com posted revenues of Rp 120 billion ($14 million), and this year it was expecting Rp 180 billion.

According to Alexa.com, which ranks Internet traffic and page view data, Detik.com was as the 11th most popular Web site in Indonesia behind Facebook, Google, Blogger, Yahoo, YouTube, Kaskus, WordPress and Twitter. It ranked first in terms of news portals, followed by Vivanews and Kompas. Agranet owned a 59 percent stake in Detik.com. Two other investors, Tiger Investment and Mitsui, which own 39 percent and 2 percent respectively,

Detik.com was founded in 1998 by Budiono Darsono and Abdul Rahman, a former senior journalist at Tempo magazine. The portal was set up as the country’s first online media platform after the Detik tabloid, Budiono’s previous employer, and Tempo were liquidated by former President Suharto. Chairul has been expanding his business interests in recent years. Last year, Trans Corp acquired a 40 percent stake in Carrefour Indonesia, the local subsidiary of global retailer Carrefour. Para Group also owns Bank Mega, a mid-sized lender.

Chairul Tanjung take over detik.com

2011-06-29T19:49:00.002+07:00

Trans Corporations own by tycon Chairul Tanjung take over detik.com. The shareholders news online are Agranet 59%, Tiger 39%, and Mitsui 2%.

Nine foreign banks intends to channel a syndicated loan facility worth US$450 million with tenor 5 years for Trans Corporation to develop its business.

In 2006, the Para Group 9now is CT Corporation) joined the retail business by acquiring several well-known franchises, such as Coffee Bean, Baskin Robins Ice Cream, Mahagaya Perdana, and establishing Trans Lifestyle as an umbrella for the retail business.
PT Mahagaya Perdana is the distributor of popular brands, such as Mango, Prada, Escada, Gucci, Hugo Boss, Alfred Dunhill, and Ettiene Aigner.
Last year, Chairul Tanjung strengthens his retail business by acquiring a 40% stake in PT Carrefour Indonesia through PT Trans Retail.
Tanjung, the 937th richest country in the world, according to the March edition of Forbes magazine, spends more than US$300 million on the acquisition.The other shareholders of the Carrefour following Tanjung's acquisition are Carrefour S.A (39%), Carrefour Nederland B.V (9,5%) and Onesia B.V (11,5%).

Harry stay in Indosat

2011-06-27T19:07:00.003+07:00

Harry Sasongko will stay on as president director of PT Indosat Tbk, Indonesia's second largest mobile phone operator by subcribers, at least for the time being, as shareholders voted on Friday to give him the chance to turn the company’s finances around. One of the strong candidate to replace Harry is Danny Buldansyah, former vice president director in PT Bakrie Telecom Tbk. Recently, Danny become executive in Qatar Telecom, majority shareholders in Indosat.

State Enterprises Minister Mustafa Abubakar said on Friday that he wanted to restructure Indosat’s board of directors following mounting debt and its poor performance last year.

At Indosat’s annual meeting, later in the day, shareholders voted to keep Harry on as president director, a position he has held since August 2009. They meeting agreed to replace Peter Kuncewicz, firm’s director of finance, with Curt Stefan Carlsson.

Indosat recently paid IDR1.13 trillion of IDR4.28 trillion in debt due this year. Indosat also paid 50 percent of its 2010 profit as a dividend.

In the first quarter, even as Indosat’s net income surged 63 percent to IDR453.9 billion from a year earlier due to gains in foreign-currency transactions and lower funding costs, its operating revenue rose just 3 percent to IDR4.9 trillion.

Also for the quarter, Indosat recorded 45.7 million customers — the same number of subscribers as the end of 2010.

Trans Media sign US$450 million loan

2011-06-22T22:06:00.003+07:00

PT Trans Media Corpora, a unit of Indonesia's Para Group, agreed to borrow US$450 million in a five- year term loan for capital expenditure. Nine banks joined the original lending group and the facility was signed yesterday.

The facility, pays non-domestic lenders a margin of 400 basis points more than the London interbank offered rate.

These banks receive interest and fees, for the so-called top level all-in payment, of 436.5 basis points. Domestic banks were offered a margin of 450 basis points more than Libor, for a top level all-in payment of 486.5 basis points.
The nine banks that joined were Banco De Oro Unibank Inc., Bank of China Ltd., PT Bank Danamon Indonesia Tbk, PT Bank Pan Indonesia Tbk, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd., Cathay United Bank Co., Chang Hwa Commercial Bank, Industrial & Commercial Bank of
China Ltd. and Raiffeisen Bank International AG.
The original lending group comprises Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., BNP Paribas SA, Citigroup Inc., Credit Suisse Group AG, HSBC Holdings Plc, ING Groep NV, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and Standard Chartered Plc.

Trans Media has interests in financial services, media and entertainment and natural resources. Its business includes a television channel.

Dubai World may exit from Bakrieland project

2011-06-22T21:23:00.003+07:00

PT Bakrieland Development Tbk ,Indonesia's second-biggest property developer by assets, said
its partner Dubai World may pull out of a real estate project in Jakarta and expects a decision within three months.
Limitless LLC, a property developer owned by Dubai World, agreed in September 2008 to invest in the project, valued at $1.7 billion at the time, and has delayed its investment
following the global credit crisis.

New investors may help revive the Rasuna Epicentrum apartment, office and retail project located in one of Jakarta busiest business districts, which was initially expected to be completed this year. Bakrieland, which is forecasting a 2012 completion, may divide Limitless stake into
smaller portions to attract more investors should the company decide to pull out.

Dubai, the second-biggest of the seven sheikhdoms that make up the United Arab Emirates, sought neighboring Abu Dhabi's help after the global crisis pushed property prices down by more than half and frozen credit markets forced some state-owned companies
to delay loan payments.

State-owned Dubai World signed a final agreement to restructure $25 billion of debt in March.
Limitless invested in Rasuna Epicentrum three years ago as its first development in Indonesia in a bid to expand overseas.

Goverment offer 1.75% shares Newmont to local

2011-06-22T21:17:00.003+07:00

The government has softened its stance in the Newmont Mining saga by offering a combined quarter of a 7 percent stake in Newmont Nusa Tenggara to the local administrations in the region where the firm’s lucrative copper and gold mine is located.

Much of the NNT’s divestment debate centered on the regional and local administrations vying for the stake, which is valued at $246.8 million.

The West Sumbawa district administration welcomed the government’s plan, while the West Nusa Tenggara provincial administration was yet to announce its view on the offer of the 1.75 percent stake — equivalent to $61.7 million — in NNT, which is a local unit of Colorado-based Newmont Mining.

The central government will finish the 7 percent stake purchase, and then offer a quarter each to the regional governments.

The Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo said the regional administrations could pay the central government for their 1.75 percent stakes in installments via dividend payments from NNT. However, Agus said the regional governments had to be the sole purchaser of the stakes, leaving no room for private companies to be involved.

Pukuafu has claimed that it was given the rights to 31 percent of NNT’s divestment share, but NNT says that it never made such a deal. NNT has called for a speedy resolution to the disputes, saying that the longer it takes for the government to get its hands on the shares, the longer dividends will not be paid. Under Newmont’s 1986 working contract with the government, NNT is required to divest 51 percent of its shares to Indonesian entities by 2010. Domestic companies now hold 44 percent of the miner’s local unit.

Stanchart bid Muamalat

2011-06-21T15:52:00.002+07:00

British-based Standard Chartered is planning to bid for a stake in Bank Muamalat, the oldest Islamic bank in Indonesia, after its local affiliate, Bank Permata, withdrew from the race.

Qatar Islamic Bank and Bank Mega were among suitors that submitted second-round bids ahead of last week’s deadline. The decision by StanChart, which has been operating in Indonesia for more than 150 years, to pursue the 15 percent stake, valued at almost $300 million.

StanChart can pursue the stake in Muamalat because central bank rules allow majority owners of commercial lenders to have control of Shariah-based banks too. StanChart and Astra International, the country’s largest auto retailer, each own a 44,5 percent stake in Bank Permata.

StanChart was continuing with due diligence and was likely to submit a bid soon, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said. Morgan Stanley help Muamalat running the auction.

IPO Newmont delay

2011-06-20T22:07:00.003+07:00

Gold miner Newmont Nusa Tenggara’s long-delayed initial public offering is not likely to happen this year as the problematic divestment process has prompted the company to re-evaluate the terms of the IPO.

NNT had prepared its financial report for the IPO, planned for last year, but the delay in the divestment process has hampered us. We have to review the plan again, and this takes time.

Necessary preparations include asset calculation, appointment of underwriters and the IPO’s time of sale and its marketing strategy.

The Finance Ministry has urged the Energy Ministry to immediately approve the government’s purchase of a 7 percent stake, which is the last remaining set of NNT shares to be divested so the company can proceed with its IPO.

Under the fourth generation of its working contract with the government, NNT is required to divest 51 percent of its foreign-owned shares to Indonesian entities by 2010. Indonesian companies now own 44 percent of the miner. The ministry’s recommendation of the sale of the 7 percent stake will be submitted to NNT’s parent company — Colorado-based Newmont Mining — and the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM).

In 2008, Newmont Mining and Sumitomo of Japan sold their combined 24 percent stake to Multi Daerah Bersaing, a company owned by Bumi Resources’ Multicapital. MDB purchased the divested shares in coordination with the West Nusa Tenggara, Sumbawa and West Sumbawa administrations. Pukuafu Indah, a local firm owned by businessman Jusuf Merukh, owns 17.8 percent in NNT, while another local company, Indonesia Masbaga Investama, owns 2.2 percent.

NNT’s management had planned to hold the IPO in the second half of this year, selling a 10 percent stake to the public in a bid to raise $500 million as it expected the delayed divestment process would be completed by mid-April. However, the fate of the last 7 percent was ensnared in political controversy after lawmakers rejected a plan by Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo, who represents the government, to purchase the shares.

A sales purchase agreement, which valued the stake at $246.8 million and represented a 10 percent discount from the initial valuation, had been signed in May. The money has yet to be paid, though, pending endorsement from the Energy Ministry and clearance from the BKPM.

BTPN pricing bonds at 9.25% & 9.9%

2011-06-14T21:32:00.005+07:00

PT Bank Tabungan Pensiunan Nasional Tbk pricing coupon bond IDR500 billion at at 9.25% and 9.9%. The company pricing bonds series A with tenure three years at 9.25% compared from the original offer by 8.9% to 9.6%.

BTPN pricing the bond tranche B with a tenure of 5 years at 9.9% compared to the range of offer of 9.5% to 10.2%. The company issues bonds series A at amount IDR165 billion and series B for IDR335 billion.

The issuance is part of BTPN's unsecured senior debt program of up to Rp2.5 trillion, which is expected to be issued within the two years.

The bonds proceeds will be used for suppoting loan expansion.Fitch Ratings had assigned a National Rating of 'AA-(idn)' to BTPN's. The company picks PT Danareksa Sekuritas, PT Indo Premier Securities and PT Standard Chartered Securities Indonesia as a underwriter.

Newmont raise US$600 million loan

2011-06-14T21:24:00.002+07:00

PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara sign a$600 million loan agreement with 16 banks today to expand its gold and copper mine in Indonesia's West Nusa Tenggara province.

The revolving credit facility will be provided by Credit Agricole and Investment Bank, Singapura Branch, ING Bank NV Singapore Branch, PT Bank Sumitomo Mitsui Indonesia, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Caterpillar Financial Australia Limited.

Next, PT Bank BNP Paribas Indonesia, PT Bank Negara Indonesia Tbk, Societe Generale Asia Ltd, Natixis Singapore Branch, Goldman Sachs Lending Partners LLC dan PT Bank Commonwealth, Aozora Bank Ltd and UBS AG, Singapore Branch.

Bank Mandiri Tbk contributes US$200 million to a credit syndication. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and BNP Paribas Corporate and Investment Banking also serve as original mandated lead arrangers and contribute US$125 million and US$75 million each.

Antam raise US$292.5 million loan

2011-06-13T20:22:00.002+07:00

PT Aneka Tambang Tbk announce the signing of a US$292.5 million credit facility agreements relating to the construction of the Tayan Chemical Grade Alumina (CGA) project.

The investment credit facilities were provided to PT Indonesia Chemical Alumina (ICA) by
Japan Bank for International Corporation (JBIC) and a commercial banks consortium of Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd. (Mizuho) and The Sumitomo Trust and Banking Co. Ltd. (STB).

PT ICA is a joint venture company between Antam and Showa Denko K.K. (SDK) of Japan.
Antam owns 80% of PT ICA and SDK holds the remaining 20%.

The investment credit facilities, which will be provided in Japanese yen, will help fund the US$450 million Tayan CGA project. Groundbreaking of the project was launched on April 11, 2011 and commercial production will begin in January of 2014.

The Tayan CGA Project will process Antam’s bauxite reserves at Tayan to produce 300,000 tonnes of CGA per annum to be exported as well as sold to the Indonesian domestic market.

Tigor lead Citibank N.A. Indonesia

2011-06-13T19:27:00.003+07:00

Citigroup has appointed a new country head for Indonesia following a torrid three months when a relationship manager was arrested for allegedly embezzling clients’ money and a card client died while he was questioned by debt collectors.

Tigor M. Siahaan will become Citi’s new chief country officer for Indonesia effective on June 30. He will replace Shariq Mukhtar, who will take on a new regional role based in Singapore.

Shariq, who has more than 25 years of experience with Citigroup, will have consumer banking responsibilities to be announced shortly. Shariq has previously been chief financial officer for operations in Taiwan and country business manager in Thailand.

Tigor, whose appointment is subject to regulatory approval, is an investment banker who played a key role in state carrier Garuda Indonesia’s initial public offering and state oil and gas firm Pertamina’s recent bond issues. He is the first Indonesian to serve as a Citi country head here.

Bank Indonesia last month slapped lengthy bans on Citi’s credit card and wealth management businesses over the alleged embezzlement and the death of its client following questioning by debt collectors acting for the American lender.

Irzen Okta, 50, secretary general of the National Unifying Party (PPB), died in a private room at the Citibank office at Menara Jamsostek on Jalan Gatot Subroto, where he had gone to discuss his credit card bill.

Police have also taken into custody Malinda Dee, a 47-year-old former wealth manager at Citi, for allegedly embezzling from her clients.

In the wake of the scandals, Indonesia’s central bank in May barred Citigroup from opening new branches for a year and from using third-party debt collectors for two years.

Ridha resign from BII

2011-06-12T09:36:00.002+07:00

CEO PT Bank Internasional Indonesia Tbk Ridha Wirakusumah was tendered the resignation letter. Raharja Alimhamzah, Director for corporate banking BII will act as a CEO until annual general meeting shareholder. Ridha was served as CEO BII since March 2009 replaced Henry Ho Hon Cheong.

Ridha formerly served as Head of Asia Pacific Consumer Finance at AIG and Head of South East Asia focusing on the business of consumer finance at GE Capital. He worked with Bankers Trust and Citibank in the treasury and corporate banking functions. He served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Regional Business Head Asia Pacific AIG Consumer Finance, Hong Kong. He also served as Chairman of Board of Commissioners of AIG Retail Bank, Hong Kong, AIG Philam Savings Bank, the Philippines, GE Money Retail Bank, Thailand and Keppel Bank/GE Money Bank, Philippines.

He was served as President and Chief Executive Officer of GE Consumer Finance Asia, Bangkok. His early career was with Bankers Trust and Citibank in the treasury and corporate banking functions.

Ridha received his MBA degree at Ohio University, United States of America and is a candidate for PhD in Business Administrations at City University of Hong Kong-University of California, Berkeley/Haas School of Business.

Previously, Ridha one of the five names prepared to replace President Director of the Asset Management Company (PPA) Mohammad Syahrial, who had resigned at the end of October 2008.

Bakrie Plantations picks 3 arranger

2011-06-09T13:59:00.003+07:00

PT Bakrie Sumatera Plantations Tbk, the Indonesian plantation company own by Bakrie Group, hired three banks to help it borrow $250 million in a five-year term loan.

PT Bank Internasional Indonesia Tbk, Credit Suisse Group AG and Raiffeisen Bank International AG are organizing the facility and syndication to other lenders is expected to be completed in July.

Proceeds will be used to refinance debt, including the company's $160 million of 10.75 percent notes due in November. The loan, secured against Bakrie Plantaions palm plantation assets,
is being structured so that creditors to other parts of the company's business have no recourse to it.

The company acquired the Domba Mas Group, a palm oil products maker, in October and agreed to take over about $180 million of bad debt owed to PT Bank Mandiri Tbk
The $250 million facility will pay a margin to offshore lenders of 700 basis points more than the London interbank offered rate, rising to 900 basis points after one year. Onshore lenders will be offered a margin of 800 basis points more than Libor, rising to 1000 basis points, or 10
percentage points, after 12 months.

Offshore lenders will initially receive an all-in payment, including fees, of around the high 800 basis-point mark, compared with the high 900 basis-point area for onshore lenders.

AT&T get license to provide multimedia services

2011-06-09T07:40:00.002+07:00

AT&T, the second-largest US wireless provider, said it had won a license to provide multimedia services in Indonesia, allowing it offer such services as teleconferencing and managing computer networks.

AT&T Global Network Services Indonesia, a local venture 95 percent owned by the US giant, is the first foreign operator granted such a permit in Indonesia. AT&T will invest about $1 billion this year to enhance services on its global network offering cloud computing and mobile applications to help businesses increase productivity and cut costs.

Previously, AT&T relied on local partners to help set up virtual private networks for customers, he said. The company’s local venture will now expand to provide services including video conferencing directly to customers. With the license, the US firm has the chance to make new inroads here.

AT&T originally submitted its proposal for the license two years ago, but the ministry only granted the license on May 27.

BI improved credit card security

2011-06-09T06:48:00.003+07:00

Bank Indonesia has called on banks to improve their customer service in their credit-card business and provide more information to help clients avoid fraud.

The lack of information for the public, particularly regarding how to maintain card security, was a central cause of credit-card fraud.

Bank Indonesia is drafting new regulations on credit cards that will require banks to conduct periodic evaluations of credit-card holders, including verifying their personal data. It will also require banks to provide transaction alerts for their customers. It will set a minimum age and income for card holders, the maximum number of cards a person can hold and other new rules.

Central bank data showed identity theft was the top avenue to credit-card fraud. According to BI, there were 1,204 cases of identity theft through April this year that resulted in a total loss of IDR5.963 billion.

In the first four months this year, there were 2,741 overall credit-card fraud cases with total losses of IDR11.8 billion. Last year, there were 18,122 cases with total losses of IDR55.2 billion.

Australia suspend live-cattle exports to Indonesia

2011-06-08T10:19:00.003+07:00

Australia will immediately suspend live-cattle exports to Indonesia for as long as six months on
concern animals are being tortured.

The government strengthened a suspension announced last week that covered only some abbattoirs in Indonesia, its largest buyer, which was announced after a television program showed animals being mistreated. Lawmakers, facing community outrage,
pressured the government to impose a full ban.

Annual live-cattle exports to Indonesia, which buys about 60 percent of Australia's cattle shipments, contributed A$319 million (US$342 million) to the country, according to Meat & Livestock Australia. Total live-cattle exports are forecast by the government at A$753 million in the 12 months ending June 30, 2012.

Television footage aired May 30 showed cattle in Indonesian slaughterhouses being kicked and whipped.

LPEI picks arranger US$200 million loan

2011-06-06T22:31:00.004+07:00

Lembaga Pembiayaan Ekspor Indonesia (Indonesia Eximbank), which providesexport financing assistance to companies, hired banks to help it borrow $200 million in a four-year term loan.

Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFG Ltd. and Oversea-ChineseBanking Corp. were initially hired to organize the $200 million facility and have since been joined by Mizuho Financial Group.

Creditors are being invited to join at three levels and bankshave until the end of next week to respond. Those contributing $20 million or more will receive 175 basis points more than the London interbank offered rate, while those contributing $10 million to $19 million would be offered an all-in rate of 172 basis points. Banks contributing $5 million to $9 million will receive a rate of 170 basis points more than Libor.

LPEI which mainly provides financing for theindustrial, mining, agriculture and transport sectors in Indonesia, reported a 2010 net profit of IDR341.9 billion rupiah. The company has the equivalent of about $1.2 billion of bonds and loans maturing before the end of 2017.

Carlyle & Suntory eye 30% shares in GarudaFood

2011-06-01T08:39:00.004+07:00

Private equity firm Carlyle Group and Japanese brewer Suntory are leading a race to buy a 30 percent stake in Indonesian consumer firm GarudaFood worth over $200 million.

Indonesia's Tudung Group is offering its stake in GarudaFood, which sells instant food, peanuts, and other snacks globally. The deal is almost complete and could be done by mid-June, the only problem is the valuation.

After the deal, GarudaFood expected to launch an initial public offering within one or two years to tap public funds. Tudung Group, an investment holding firm controlled by the family of founder Darmo Putro.

Tudung Group was hired Barclays Capital to run the sale. The sale attracted interest from several foreign investors, including private equity firms 3i Group Plc and Unitas Capital, but only Carlyle and Suntory made it to the final bidding.

3 Investors eye Bank Muamalat

2011-05-27T13:45:00.003+07:00

A Standard Chartered Bank affiliate, Qatar Islamic Bank and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. are among the bidders for a controlling stake in Bank Muamalat Indonesia.

Shareholders of privately held Bank Muamalat, plan to sell more than 50 percent of the lender in a deal that may value it at as much as US$600 million. Second-round bids are due in mid-June, the sources said.

Bank Permata, an Indonesian lender 44,5 percent owned by Standard Chartered, is bidding for the stake.

Rising demand for Islamic banking services has helped drive the Jakarta Finance Index 52 percent higher in the past 12 months. Islamic banking assets in Indonesia grew to IDR100 trillion last year from IDR67 trillion at the end of 2009.

Investors in Bank Muamalat may sell as much as 80 percent of the lender, according to one source. Bank Muamalat is 32.82 percent controlled by the Islamic Development Bank, 24.94 percent by Boubyan Bank Kuwait and 17.95 percent by Atwil Holdings Limited.

Bank Muamalat has almost 400 offices in Indonesia and one branch in Malaysia. The lender plans to quadruple its holdings of Shariah-compliant debt this year. The company had about Rp 20.4 trillion of assets as of December. It has targeted asset growth of 50 percent this year.

Bank Mega sanctioned by BI

2011-05-27T13:42:00.002+07:00

The central bank imposed a raft of sanctions against Bank Mega on Tuesday, saying the lender implicated in two corruption cases had violated regulations and failed to protect its clients. Bank Mega was barred from taking on new Deposit on Call accounts for 12 months and was prevented from opening branches for a month starting from Tuesday’s announcement.

The sanction also applies to negotiable certificates of deposit and includes prohibitions on renewing customers’ accounts for these products.

“There were violations of the bank’s internal regulations and risk management reflected in weaknesses in [its] standard operating procedures,” Bank Indonesia spokesman Difi A. Johansyah said in a statement.

Difi cited a IDR111 billion case in which bank officials allegedly skimmed funds from oil services company Elnusa’s Bank Mega account. The lender is also being investigated over the alleged illegal transfer of district funds to a Bank Mega account in North Sumatra.

Toyota Astra issued IDR750 billion bonds

2011-05-27T13:21:00.002+07:00

PT Toyota Astra Financial Services, a joint venture company between PT Astra International Tbk and Toyota Financial Services Corporation, will issue bonds amounting to IDR750 billion to create stronger working capital.

The company will be offering three bond series, namely the 370-day series A, 24-month series B, and 36-month series C.

PT Pemeringkat Efek Indonesia, an Indonesia-based credit rating agency, was assigned idAA- rating to the bonds.

The company appointed PT Trimegah Securities Tbk, PT HSBC Securities Indonesia, and PT Indo Premier Securities to underwrite bonds sale. Meanwhile, PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia will act as a trustee.

The book building period will start on May 31 until June 15, 2011, whilst the offering will begin on June 27 until July 1, 2011. The allotment is scheduled on July 4, 2011 and the listing at the Jakarta Stock Exchange is targeted on July 8, 2011.

The company’s liabilities reached IDR7.15 billion as of December 31, 2011 and the assets was IDR 8 trillion. Toyota Astra booked a 43.09% revenue increase to IDR989.90 billion last year from IDR691.78 a year earlier. Meanwhile, the net income almost doubled to IDR152.09 billion from IDR81.24 billion.

Saratoga Capital & Tiger Airways take over Mandala Airlines

2011-05-19T23:13:00.003+07:00

Saratoga Capital, private equity under control by Sandiaga Uno and Edwin Soeryadjaja, agreed to acquire 51 percent share PT Mandala Airlines. Tiger Airways Holdings Ltd. also agreed to buy a 33 percent stake in Mandala Airlines to expand in Indonesia. The creditors will have 16 percent share in Mandala.

Sandiaga Uno says Saratoga prepare IDR1 trilion to inject capital for Mandala Airlines. "This is long term business," he says tonight.

Mandala, which is undergoing a financial restructuring,plans to adopt a low-cost business model,

Tiger, part-owned by Singapore Airlines Ltd., also this year agreed to a tie-up with South East Asian Airlines to add flights in the Philippines.

Mandala plans to offer flights within a five-hour flyingradius using Airbus SAS A320 aircraft following its restructuring.

Boy Tohir take over BFI Finance

2011-05-19T22:48:00.002+07:00

Indonesian billionaire Boy Garibaldi Thohir led a group including TPG Capital in buying a stake in PT BFI Finance Indonesia, a consumer lender, for about IDR1.44 trillion.

The Trinugraha Capital & Co. investor group, which also includes private equity fund Northstar EquityPartners, bought a 45 percent of BFI Finance.

Boy Thohir, 46 years old, is president director of Indonesia’s second-largest coal producer, PT Adaro Energy Tbk. His net worth of $1.45billion made him the 15 th richest person in Indonesia last year, according to Forbes Asia.

Boy Thohir made the Forbes list ofbillionaires for the first time in 2010 as shares of Jakarta-based Adaro, in which he owns 6 percent, jumped 47 percent. Boy Thohir plans to seek a seat on BFI Finance’s board following the purchase, according to the release. The company,which provides auto, motorcycle and heavy equipment loans,boosted profit by 20 percent to 362 billion rupiah last year.

Northstar Equity Partners is a fund under Northstar Pacific,a firm co-founded by Patrick Walujo, a former investment bankerat Goldman Sachs Group Inc. TPG, founded by Bonderman in 1992,has $48 billion of assets under management.

Pertamina pricing bonds

2011-05-18T21:59:00.003+07:00

PT Pertamina issue US$1 billion bonds due 2021 with coupon 5.25%. Pertamina’s debut bond proved to be a resounding success, with 330 accounts placing $7 billion of orders.

The initial guidance was released on Monday at 5.625% to 5.75%. This was later tightened to 5.5% to 5.625%, with the bonds pricing at the tight end of final guidance to yield 5.5%. The coupon was fixed at 5.25%.
The deal received strong participation from US investors, who bought 42%. Asian investors bought 36% and European investors bought 22%. The book was dominated by fund managers, which took 70%, while insurers, pension funds and central banks bought 12%, banks 10% and private banks 8%.

Pertamina hired Citi, Credit Suisse and HSBC as a bookrunners. Danareksa Sekuritas and Mandiri Sekuritas were also involved in the deal as co-managers.

The bond proceeds will be used for financing capital expenditures and for general corporate purposes.

Pertamina is a 100% Indonesian government-owned,fully-integrated oil and gas corporation, with operations in upstream oil, gas and geothermal exploration and production, downstream oil refining, marketing, distribution, transportation and trading of petroleum products.

Buma raise US$800 million loan

2011-05-18T21:19:00.003+07:00

PT Bukit Makmur Mandiri Utama (Buma), Indonesian mining contractor company, which is one of the biggest mining contractors in country, raise US$800 million loan from syndicated 10 bank.

The bank are PT Bank Mandiri Tbk, PT Bank Mizuho Indonesia, The Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., CIMB Bank, Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, ING Bank N.V,. Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. Hongkong Branch, Morgan Stanley, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.

The new loan facility -- which comprises a USD750 million 7-year term loan and a US$50 million 3-year committed revolving facility -- does not have a free cash flow covenant, while its Debt/EBITDA covenant allows for a maximum of 4x until Q1 2013.

The proceeds from the loan facility will refinance Buma's existing bank debt and fund future capex. Concurrently, the company has entered into USD500 million in 5-yearinterest rate swaps to hedge its interest rate risk. This provides some stability to interest coverage.

Moody's Investors Service sees no immediate impact on Buma Ba3 corporate family rating from its signing of a US$800 million senior secured loan facility and parent PT Delta Dunia Makmur Tbk 's recent announcement of a rights issue of up to 1.529 billion common shares. The outlook for Buma's ratings remains stable.

Cholil Hasan move to Bakrie & Brothers

2011-05-17T19:39:00.003+07:00

Cholil Hasan, move to PT Bakrie & Brothers Tbk and become a Executive Vice President Group Strategic Bussiness Development.

Cholil was born on October 07, 1952. Formerly, he is a chief Financial Officer PT Semen Gresik tbk and responsible for Finance, Accounting, ICT and General Affairs Divisions. He joined Semen Gresik in 2002; prior to that, he had been Senior Vice President Bank Mandiri Head Office (1999-2002), General Manger Bank Bumi Daya New York, USA (1998-1999), Deputy General Manager Bank Bumi Daya Head Office, International Division (1998).

While serving Bank Mandiri, he was also seconded as Vice Chairman Bank Mandiri Europe Ltd London (1999-2002) and Management Team Chairman of PT Bank International Indonesia (2001).

He has also been Chief Commissioner of Semen Gresik Pension Fund, since 2002. Mr. Cholil Hasan has a Master’s degree in Business Administration from University of Wisconsin Madison, USA (1986), Bachelor of Science in Economics from University Indonesia (1982) and Advanced Professional Cerficiate in Finance from New York University, USA (1987).

Yungky resign from Bank Mega

2011-05-17T19:35:00.003+07:00

Yungky Setiawan, resign from the position as a vice president commisoner PT Bank Mega Tbk. Yungky formerly has been the President Director of Bank Mega since 2004. He was director of retail banking of the Bank from 1998 to 2004.

Prior to PT Bank Mega, Setiawan also held several positions at Bank Danamon Indonesia, including Manager Card Marketing from 1989 to 1990, Senior Manager/Assistant Vice President, Product Development and Management Division from 1990 to 1992 and Deputy General Manager/Senior Assistant Vice President, Branch Banking Division from 1992 to 1995.

He was also the General Manager/Senior Vice President at PT Danamon Sanggrahan, President Director at PT Danamon Kreasi Pariwara and Marketing Director at PT Danamon Asuransi in 1997. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from City University, Canada, in 1986.

Pertamina prepare US$3.5 billion to acquire block in Angola

2011-05-11T21:28:00.004+07:00

PT Pertamina, Indonesian oil company, still with Cnooc Ltd. on a possible joint bid for Exxon Mobil Corp.’s stake in an Angola oil concession, in what may be Indonesia’s biggestoverseas acquisition.

The Financial Times said Pertamina and Cnooc canceled their plan for a possible $3.5 billion bid for Exxon’s 25 percent stake in the block. Indonesia, a former OPEC member, is seeking oil resources to stem a decline in domestic production. Crude output dropped2.5 percent to 769,068 barrels a day in April from March, the nation’s oil and gas regulator (BPMigas) said on May 3.

Angola, which vies with Nigeria as Africa’s top oil producer, pumped 1.625 million barrels a day last month.

Pertamina was allocated US$1 billion for acquiring overseas and domestic oil and gas blocks this year. The company hired Citigroup Inc., CreditSuisse Group AG and HSBC Holdings Plc to help it with a proposed benchmark-sized sale of dollar bonds at least $500million.

Acquisitions mayhelp Pertamina cut crude imports and raise output by the equivalent of 100,000 barrels of oil a day in 2015.

Pertamina and Cnooc scrapped their proposal to acquireExxon’s stake after a dispute over the terms of renewal of theWest Madura oil and gas block in Indonesia.

On May 6, Indonesia’s energy ministry said Cnooc withdrewfrom the West Madura block as Pertamina increased its stake inthe project to 80 percent from 50 percent. Pertamina wanted to expand its share and reduce Cnooc’s holding to 10 percent from25 percent, the FT said in its report.

Indonesia produced 957,000 barrels of oil a day last year,missing its target of 965,000 barrels. The government expectsoutput to reach 952,000 barrels a day this year.

LPS picks Danareka to advise Bank Mutiara divestment

2011-05-11T21:19:00.002+07:00

Indonesia Deposit Insurance Corporation (LPS) has appointed PT Danareksa Sekuritas as a sale advisor for PT Bank Mutiara Tbk. The sale is expected to be completed this year.

LPS targets to lure new potential investor in August. Formerly, LPS reviewed three brokerage companies as the candidates, including PT Mandiri Sekuritas, PT Bahana Securities and PT Danareksa Sekuritas.

Bank Mutiara, previously named Bank Century, was taken over by government through the LPS in October 2008 when global crisis hit Indonesia. The LPS injected IDR6.7 trillion bailout to raise Bank Century’s capital.

Bank Mutiara is owned by the government through LPS who holds 99.996% of the shares while the remaining 0.004% belongs to public.

Dira a new CEO Nusantara Life

2011-05-08T21:09:00.004+07:00

Dira Kurniawan Mochtar, become a new CEO PT Nusantara Life, a insurance company. He has been a Director of BII for corporate banking since November 2002 - 2009.

Dira previously was a member of the BII Management Team (17 May - 7 November 2002). Before joining BII he had held several positions in IBRA as Group Head of Core Assets Disposal Risk Management, and Group Head and Team Leader of Loan Workout and Collection (1998-2002).

Prior to that, he was a Senior Manager of Investment Banking Division at Bank Bira (1995-1998), Deputy Manager of Corporate Banking Division at PT Indovest Bank (1993-1995), and a Financial Analyst at Marketing and Refinery Division at Mobil Oil Corporation, Fairfax - Virginia, USA (1991-1992).

He earned his MBA in 1991 and BSc. of Business Administration in 1990 from Oklahoma City University, USA.

Astra pay IDR1,600 dividend

2011-05-08T21:04:00.003+07:00

PT Astra International Tbk, Indonesia's biggest automotive retailer and assembler, will pay a total dividend of IDR1,600 a share, or IDR6.47 trillion representing 45 percent of 2010 net income.

The dividend includes an interim dividend of IDR470 a share that was distributed Nov. 15, 2010. Astra will distribute the final dividend of 1,130 a share on June 16.

Astra allocated $1.4 billion for capital expenditure this year, 40 percent of which will used for expansion of unit PT United Tractors, Indonesia largest seller of heavy equipment.

The company's net income reached IDR14.37 trillion last year from IDR10.04 trillion a year earlier. Operating profit rose 15.43% to IDR14.73 trillion from IDR12.76 trillion.