Adaro plans to go public in Sept 2008

South Kalimantan coal miner PT Adaro Indonesia expects to raise about Rp 4.6 trillion (about US$500 million) from the company's initial public offering in September this year, Investor Daily reported Monday.

The company's President Director Boy Garibaldi Tohir said in Jakarta Thursday that about $200 million of the proceeds from the IPO would be used to pay the company's debts.

"The rest will be used to finance the company's expansion plan," he was quoted as saying. He, however, declined to unveil the amount of shares to be sold during the public offering.

According to him, Adaro has appointed three securities companies UBS Securities, Goldman Sachs and DBS Vickers Securities to prepare and arrange the IPO.

Adaro's subsidiary, PT Sapta Indra Sejati (SIS), a mining contractor, also plans to sell its shares to the public in the second half of the year to raise funds for expansion.

"SIS is likely to list its shares earlier than Adaro in order to increase its (Adaro's) value. No decision has been made on the schedule. For sure, both of them will go public this year," he said. (*)