Government to speed up sale of PTBA shares

The government will speed up the sale of its 18 percent stake in state coalminer PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam (PTBA) as part of the privatization program, the Investor Indonesia newspaper reported in its Tuesday edition.

The House of Representatives already gave its approval for divestment of 35 percent in 2002. But the government was able to sell only 16.4 percent during its initial public offering (IPO) in December 2002.

"So, there is no need for the approval from the House of Representatives to sell the shares in PTBA," state minister for state enterprises' deputy for privatization and restructuring Mahmudin Yasin told the paper on Monday.

The shares of PTBA will be divested through private placement, he added.

Mahmuddin admitted that the government is still in the process of selecting underwriters for the sale of several state enterprises this year. Big financial institutions like JP Morgan, Credit Suisse First Boston (CFSB) and UBS Warburg are vying for underwriter jobs for the sale of several state enterprises including PTBA.

It is expected the government may sell PTBA share in April or before the general election.

A government official said recently that this is the right moment to sell PTBA shares given the rising trend in coal price.

The government has also planned to sell stake sin several state enterprises, including PT Bank Mandiri Tbk and PT Aneka Tambang to plug the state budget's deficit. (*)