Pertamina to raise US$500 million from its planned bond offering
Monday, July 21 2003 - 03:46 AM WIB
Sources said that Pertamina had formally invited a number of local and joint venture securities companies to take part in bidding to take a leading role in the underwriting of the company?s bond offering.
?Between six and seven securities have been invited to become candidates of the underwriters of Pertamina?s bond offering,? an executive of a security company told the daily.
He said that Pertamina had asked these securities companies to submit their bids on July 25 at the latest. ?The name of the winners will be announced in September,? he added.
The source said that the state owned oil company would set the offering period of the bond after it received the government?s approval on the planned change in the status of the company into a limited company or Perusahaan Terbatas or PT.
President Megawati Sukarnoputri has signed a decree related to the change in Pertamina?s status but the decree has not been formally issued. Sources said that the new status would begin effective in the third quarter of this year.
Pertamina?s spokesman M. Harun said he did not know about the plan to increase the value of the planned bond issue to US$500 million.
Pertamina earlier announced that it would issue bonds worth US$250 million to finance the company?s planned acquisition of the Wayang Windu power plant. Harun said that the planned bond issue did not include those that would be issued by the company?s subsidiary Pertamina Tongkang.
Pertamina Tongkang plans to issue bonds worth US$160 million between August and September this year to raise cash for the purchases of several oil tankers. Bahana and Citicorp securities companies will act as lead and co-underwriter of the bond offering. (*)