Panigoro family's Encore seeks to gain full control of New Links

Publicly listed oil and gas firm PT Medco Energi Internasional Tbk said Monday that Encore Limited is to buy the remaining shares in New Links Energy Resources Limited owned by Thailand PTTEP Offshore Investment Company Limited and Cumin Limited.

New Links, a Mauritius based investee company, holds an 85.51 percent shares in MedcoEnergi. Currently, Encore owns 40.1 percent of New Links, while PTTEPO and Cumin, a unit of Credit Suisse First Boston, hold 40.0 percent and 19.9 percent, respectively.

According to Medco, Cumin and PTTEPO have previously selected Everitt Investments Pte Ltd, an investment company linked to Singapore?s Temasek Holdings Limited, as the preferred bidder to acquire a combined of 44.9 percent shares in New Links.

?The remaining 15% of shares owned by PTTEPO was offered to Encore,? Medco said in a statement to the Jakarta Stock Exchange.

Encore is the company established under British Virgin Islands law by the family of Panigoro, the founder shareholder of MedcoEnergi.

Medco added that it believed that the change in shares ownership in New Links will add value to other Medco?s shareholders. (robert)