Benakat to acquire Astrindo Mahakarya

IDX-listed energy and resource company PT Benakat Petroleum Energy unveiled plans to sell one of its subsidiaries to finance its plan to acquire 99.99 percent stake of mining infrastructure company PT Astrindo Mahakarya Indonesia, the Jakarta Post reported.

Benakat reached an agreement late last year to acquire a 99.99 percent stake in Astrindo, in a deal worth US$600 million from PT Indokreasi Nuansa Sejahtera. After several delays in the completion of the acquisition, Benakat recently said that it had finalized the acquisition and obtained approval last Friday from its shareholders on corporate action along with its funding plan.

"We will use internal cash, assets selling and bank loans to finance the acquisition," Benakat's President Director Muhammad Suluhuddin Noor said.

Benakat's Corporate Secretary Dina Andini Rohali said that the company would use about $115 million of its internal cash and around $380 million in bank loans to finance the acquisition.

"As we are still short on funds, we will release our entire stake in PT Benakat Patina for around $105 million to Indonesian company PT Florenceville," Dma said.

Astrindo is an integrated mining infrastructure company with operational areas in East and South Kalimantan . Astrindo has two subsidiaries, PT Nusantara Pratama Indah and Sire Enterprises Pte. Ltd.

Nusantara Pratama Indah has a 70 percent stake in PT Mitratama Perkasa, which leases coal port and crusher facilities to its clients. The other shareholder in Mitratama is publicly listed PT Sumber Energi Andalan, which bought a 30 percent stake last August in Mitratama from PT Bumi Resources, in a deal worth only $1.(*)