Corporate News in Brief - September 2010

BAKRIE TELECOM INVESTS US$ 110 MILLION. PT Bakrie Telecom Tbk has spent US$110 million this year mainly on expansion of data transmission business. Bakrie Telecom President Anindya Bakrie said a small part of the investment spending this year has been derived from a renmimbi loan worth US$ 300 million from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). The company has set investment target of US$ 300 million this year partly to expand telecommunication networks, both cellular and data transmission networks. Its finance director Jastiro Abi said most of the US$ 100 million spent so far this year were used to finance investment in PT Bakrie Conectivity and the rest for development of Bakrie Telecom. In addition to loan from ICBC, the company still has fund amounting to US$ 250 million remaining from bonds it recently issued maturing in 2012.

ANTAM TO START DEVELOPMENT OF US$450 MILLION CGA PROJECT IN TAYAN. State-owned mining company PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (Antam) will start development of its Chemical Grade Alumina (CGA) project in Tayan, West Kalimantan next year . The project to cost US$ 450 million will be built by PT Indonesia Chemical Alumina (ICA) and a consortium that groups PT Wijaya Karya Tbk, Tsukishima Kikai Co Ltd, and PT Nusantara Energi Abadi (Nusea) as the EPC contractor. ICA, which is a joint venture between Antam and Showa Denko K.K. (SDK) owns 80% of the project and 20% owned by SDK. Antam corporate secretary Bimo Budi Satriyo said the CGA project will produce 300,000 tons of CGA per year. SDK will use 200,000 tons of the production and the remaining 100,000 tons for domestic market. Earlier it was reported Antam has secured a loan pledge of US$ 160 million from Japan Bank For International Cooperation to finance development of the project. Antam will needs more loans expected from local and foreign banks for the US$ 450 million project, Djaja M Tambunan, the finance director of the state company, said. Bank loans are expected to contribute US$ 117 million and the company will put up the rest, Antam's President Alwynsyah Loebis said he hopes loan agreement would be concluded this year as construction is to start in the first half of 2011.

WILMAR TO BUILD INTEGRATED SUGAR INDUSTRY IN MERAUKE. Wilmar International Ltd has made available US$ 1.5 billion to finance development of integrated sugar venture in the Merauke Food Estate in Papua. President of PT Wilmar Nabati Indonesia, a subsidiary of the Singapore-based commodity giant Hendri Saksti said the company has secured the license to use 200,000 hectares of land in that area. The land will be used for sugar plantation to be integrated with sugar refinery. Hendri feasibility studies will still be conducted that will take 1-2 years. Sugar plantations would be the priority in short term development of the ambitious food and energy estate project in Merauke, an official said. Self sufficiency in sugar would be one of the main goals of the Merauke Industrial Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE) development in 2010-2014, Agriculture Minister Suswono said. Wilmar International has also announced it's would l acquire an Indonesian sugar company PT Jawamanis Rafinasi this year. Jawamanis, which has a double refined sugar factory in Ciwanda, Banten, is priced at an estimated US$ 50 million, but the price could be higher as negotiation is still underway, a Wilmar official said. PT Wilmar Nabati Indonesia is negotiating with the owners of Jawamanis, Wilmar Nabati commissioner MP Tumanggor said. The factory of Jawamanis has a milling capacity of 1,000 tons of sugarcane per day.

ASTRA SECURES APPROVAL FROM INVESTORS AND CREDITORS TO ACQUIRE GE FINANCE. PT Astra International has secured agreement from 90% of the investors and creditors of PT Astra Sedaya Finance to acquire the 47% stake owned by the GE Finance Group in the financing firm. The process of acquisition is expected to be completed this year, said Arief Istanto, the chief corporate communication of Astra International. Approval from the majority investors and creditors is a prerequisite for the acquisition, Arief said. The approval is in line with the credit conditions such as related to collateral and binding debt covenants terms needed with the Astra International already owns 53% of Astra Sedaya and the acquisition of the 47% stake will make it the sole shareholder of the firm offering credits for the purchases of cars and motorcycles produced by the Astra Group.

TELKOM TO LAUNCH BUSINESS CONSOLIDATION. State-owned telecommunications company PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk (Telkom) said it will sell a number of non core assets such as 40% stake in PT Patra Telekomunkasi Indonesia (Patrakom) and 25% stake in PT Citra Sari Makmur (CSM) under its consolidation program. Earlier, it was reported that PT Telkom offered its stake in Patrakom to PT Tanjung Mustika. Tanjung Mustika, a subsidiary of the Sinar Mas Group already has a 20% stake in Patrakom, which is a telecommunication network service provider. Telkom and Elnusa, which also owns 40% of Patrakom have named PT Bahan Securities as the financial adviser in the stake sales. Telkom President Rinaldi Firmansyah said if Tanjung Mustika refused the offer the stake would be offered to other investors. Eddy Kurnia, company's vice president for public and marketing communication said the divestment of non core assets will allow the management to focus more on telecommunication business.

ENERGI MEGA PERSADA WRAPS UP ACQUISITION OF 10% STAKE IN MASELA BLOCK. PT Energi Persada said its subsidiary EMP Energi Indonesia has wrapped up acquisition of a 10% stake worth US$100 million in Masela gas block from Inpex Corp. Energi Mega president Imam P. Agustino said joint operation agreement between Inpex Masela and EMP Energi Indonesia for the gas block in the Arafuru Sea has been effective. Imam said the acquisition was paid with fund raised from rights issue launched by Energi Mega early this year. Inpex , the 90% shareholder, plans to build a floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in the block, believed to hold one of the country's largest gas reserves. Herwin Hidayat, a spokesman of Energi Mega, said the Masela Block has reserves of 18.5 trillion cubic feet of gas and 333 million barrels of oil one of the country's largest. Herwin said earlier Energi Mega would not seek to acquire new oil or gas blocks before the process of the 10% stake acquisition in Masela block had been completed.

OCBC NISP MERGED WITH OCBC INDONESIA. Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation Ltd (OCBC), had planned merger between its bank units in Indonesia PT Bank OCBC NISP Tbk and PT Bank OCBC Indonesia - to be effective on January 1, 2011. The step followed move by United Overseas Bank (UOB), another Singapore-based lender which combined its two subsidiaries in Indonesia PT Bank UOB Buana and PT Bank UOB Indonesia last year. The new bank as a result of the merger of the two banks of OCBC will use the name of Bank OCBC NISP. Currently through OCBC Overseas Investment Pte Ltd, OCBC owns 81.9% of OCBC NISP. After the merger, OCBC's stake in OCBC NISP will rise to 85.06%. OCBC owns 99% of Bank OCBC Indonesia. The merger will result in a decline in public shares in OCBC NISP to 14.94% from 18.1% at present.

BUKIT ASAM TO BUILD COAL PORT . State-owned coal producer PT Bukit Asam will build a coal port in Lampung to facilitate shipments of its coal from Tanjung Enim in South Sumatra. The project, needed to support its plan to raise its coal output, will cost an estimated Rp 1 trillion (US$ 111 million), Bukit Asam President Sukrisno said. Bukit Asam plans to boost its coal production from its coal mine in Tanjung Enim from around 10 million tons a year at present, Sukrisno said. The company has to put off plan to raise output because of difficulty in the transport of the production. Sukrisno said construction is expected to start early next year and to be operational in 2013 company's coal production is expected to reach 25 million tons. The production is expected to rise further to 70 million tons in 2016 when three railway projects to facilitate coal transport from Tanjung Enim have been completed. Bukit Asam Transpacific Railway (BATR), Adani Global PT Kereta Api plan to build rail tracks to link Tanjung Enim port towns in Lampung and South Sumatra .

LOTTE MART TO OPEN THREE NEW OUTLETS. Lotte Mart opened and will open three new outlets in the country before the end of this year as part of its plan to open 23 new outlets until 2016. The three outlets. The new outlets include one in Ratu Plaza opened in Oct 7, followed by one by the end of October and another toward the end of December in Kelapa Gading, Jakarta. Later the Korean retail giant will open 20 new outlets by phases until 2016. Basuki Ismael, Industrial Relations Manager of Lotte Mart Indonesia, said the one to be opened in Kelapa Gading constitutes a product of a new concept of modern market called Lotte Hybird, which will take place beside a wholesale outlet in the same building. Basuki said there has been no such Lotte Hybrid outlet in the country. As a new player in the country Lotte Mart has to face a formidable competitors in retail market already crowded with big players like Carrefour, Giant and Hypermart.