"If the government finally decides that Inalum will be managed by a state-owned company (BUMN)."Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Three state-owned banks, namely PT Bank Mandiri Tbk., PT Bank BNI Tbk., and PT Bank BRI Tbk. have stated their readiness to finance the takeover of PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Inalum) by the government.
"If the government finally decides that Inalum will be managed by a state-owned company (BUMN), the state-owned banks will be ready to finance the takeover," State Enterprises Minister Mustafa Abubakar said at his office here on Friday.
He indicated that the financing could be done through syndication. He said the three banks were quite strong in lcapitals.
Japan through Nippon Asahan Aluminium controls 58.9 percent of Inalum`s shares while the rest is held by the Indonesian government.
PT Inalum`s "build, operate and transfer" contract is expected to expire in 2013. Based upon the contract three years before the expiration of the BOT contract the two parties should conduct negotiations to determine whether or not it would be extended.
The funds the government has to prepare if it wants to takeover the company is estimated to reach around US$720 million.
Mustafa did not tell how much the state-owned banks should prepare for the takeover and continuation of the company`s operations.
"There have been no figures yet. Some time ago we talked about US$700 million but it has not been updated," he said.
He said the state-owned banks certainly knew that the project was bankable.
It was reported earlier that the state enterprises ministry would prepare two options with regard to Inalum management.
The first is making it a new state-owned company or a subsidiary of a state-owned company. "We are still conducting various preparations to manage Inalum after it is taken over by the Indonesian government," Mustafa said.
Besides the state-owned banks some other state-owned companies would also be involved in the takeover bid such as PT Perusahaan Pengelola Aset, PT Danareksa Sekuritas, PT Bahana Sekuritas and PT Aneka Tambang.
(L.R017/Uu.H-YH/HAJM/F001)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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