Pertamina seeks to buy all stake in Wayang Windu
Monday, August 27 2001 - 03:49 AM WIB
Pertamina?s president Baihaki Hakim said that the state company was first offered by Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse to buy their 50 percent stake in the geothermal power plant.
But, Pertamina said it was only interested in buying the stake if Unocal also sold its 50 percent stake in the power plant, Baihaki said.
?Negotiations (with the banks and Unocal) for the purchase of the stake are still in progress,? he told reporters during a workshop in Bogor, West Java.
Baihaki said Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse set the price for their 50 percent stake in the power plant at US$250 million.
Located 200 kilometers Southeast of Jakarta, the 110-Megawatt geothermal power plant was handed over to the banks by the original investors Asia Power Ltd, which is the subsidiary of New Zealand?s Brierley Investments Ltd, following its failure to repay loans provided by the banks for the power project.
Asia Power had 95 percent stake in the power plant before it ceased operation, with the remaining shares owned by Indonesian firm Bumi Mandala Perkasa.
Today, the power plant is 50 percent controlled by Unocal via its subsidiary Unocal Global Venture and 50 percent by the banks via a paper company Magma Nusantara Ltd.
The lenders appointed Unocal as the operator of the power plant early this year following AsiaPower?s pullout, according to Dow Jones Newswires. (Godang)