Freeport agrees to sell its stake in Indocopper
Monday, August 2 2004 - 02:09 AM WIB
New Olrleans-based gold and copper miner Freeport McMoran will fulfill the request of the government by selling its stake in PT Indocopper Investama, which has a 9.36 percent stake in PT Freeport Indonesia, to a national company, the Koran Tempo newspaper reported in its Monday edition.
But the world?s largest gold and copper miner said it will sell the shares of Indocopper at the market price.
?Freeport has agreed to sell Indocopper shares as per the market price,? the company? spokesperson Siddharta Moersjid told the Koran Tempo over the weekend.
But Freeport has yet to decide on the share price and the schedule of the divestment.
According to Siddharta, Freeport has also accepted the government?s decision to reject the merger of Indocopper with Freeport McMoran, which was proposed by Freeport early this year.
?We don?t object to it (government?s rejection),? Siddharta said.
At present, McMoran owns 81.28 percent shares in Freeport. Indocopper and the government, which represents the national interest, own 9.36 percent, respectively in the gold giant. In 2002. McMoran, however, bought the entire stake of Indocopper, and as part of its corporate restructuring, the American mining company planned to merge it into its business entity.
The merger plan has, however, provoked controversies in the public. Mining observers have said that the merger which would increase McMoran's owneship in Freeport to 90.64 percent, would further strengthen the dominance of the company in the gold and copper giant. (*)