Antam likely to set bond coupon at 7%

State-owned gold and nickel miner PT Aneka Tambang (Antam), is likely to set a coupon of 7% for its proposed $150 million in seven-year bonds, an official familiar with the deal said Tuesday.

The official, who declined to be named, told Dow Jones Newswires that the company will market the bonds in Singapore, Hong Kong, and London by the end of the month, and hopes to list the bonds on the Singapore Stock Exchange in August.

Antam has named ABN Amro as lead underwriter.

It will use the proceeds of the bonds to help finance a new ferronickel smelter project.

The company also plans to borrow from state-owned PT Bank Mandiri to finance the project.

Antam is 65%-owned by the Indonesian government and is listed on both the Jakarta and Australian stock exchanges.

State-owned PT Bank Mandiri in April pegged the coupon rate of its $300 million bonds at 7%, with the price at 99.482 to yield 7.125%. The Mandiri bonds were later used as a benchmark for international bond issues by Indonesian companies. (*)