Bank Mandiri to help raise funds for acquisition of Freeport shares

State-controlled Bank Mandiri has been assigned to raise the bulk of the required funds for the acquisition of a 10.64 percent stake in gold and copper giant PT Freeport Indonesia by a group of state-controlled firms, Kontan reported on Thursday.

The paper said that the estimated value of the 10.64 percent shares to be divested by PT Freeport, the local unit of US-based Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc, is about US$ billion. It added that the government has assigned state-controlled firms including IDX-listed mining firm PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (Antam), IDX-listed PT Bukit Asam Tbk (PTBA), aluminum producer PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminum (Inalum), pension fund management firm PT Taspen, and Bank Mandiri to acquire the PT Freeport shares. PTBA, Inalum and Taspen are expected to come up with $700 million, while the remainder $1.3 billion to be raised by Bank Mandiri, the paper said.

?For certain, Bank Mandiri will support the funding (requirement),? Corporate Secretary of Antam Tri Hartono told Kontan.

Bank Mandiri Director of Finance Kartika Wirjoatmodjo said that the bank will assign its subsidiary securities firm PT Mandiri Sekuritas to seek for the optimum funding structure, but quickly added that the bank has not made any commitment to provide up to $1.3 billion. ?That?s quite huge,? she said.

PT Freeport is obliged to divest 10.64 percent shares this year. The government has set a deadline for the mining firm to offer the shares to the government by January 14.

Director General of Mineral and Coal Bambang Gatot Ariyono was quoted by the paper as saying that the government would give a second warning to PT Freeport if the company fails to meet the deadline.(*)