Glazers asked to up bid for Indon's Chandra Asri

25 September 2003 01:46  [Source: ICIS news]

JAKARTA (CNI)--The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (Ibra) has asked Singapore-based Glazers & Putnam Investment Ltd to submit a new bid for Chandra Asri, Indonesia's sole cracker operator, saying its most recent bid is still below its minimum price.

In the second round of bidding for Chandra Asri which ended on 19 September, Glazers was the only investor to bid.

In the first round in August, there were two bidders -- Glazers and Chinkara Capital -- both of which failed to reach the minimum price for the cracker operator.

Chandra Asri is one of the Ibra assets offered in the second phase of its strategic assets sale programme (PPAS). Other assets up for sale are the Texmaco Group, Bakrie Nirwana Resort in Bali and sugarcane processor PG Rajawali. Ibra has not yet managed to sell off any of these assets.

IBRA is hoping to divest assets worth of Rp10.09trn ($1.19bn/Euro1.06bn) in Chandra Asri. Of the cracker operator's total share capital, 25.86% is publicly held in equity and convertible bonds, 24.59% is held by Japanese companies while 49.55% is owned by Prajogo Pangestu through investment company Inter Petrindo Inti Citra.

According to Ibra data, Chandra Asri's assets were put at $1.02bn as of December 2002, with net equity of $216.57m. Total sales to 31 December 2002 were $370.4m last year with a net loss of $11.1m.

Chandra Asri is the only ethylene cracker in Indonesia, with a capacity of 510 000 tonne/year of ethylene, 280 000 tone/year of propylene, and 300 000 tonne/year of polyethylene (PE).

By: Jack Lukup
+65 6780 4359

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