PGN’s IPO can’t be delayed despite reauditing, says minister
Saturday, October 25 2003 - 02:19 AM WIB
Everybody, who are involved in the PGN’s IPO, is working according to the tight schedule, Laksmana said.
“Just now I came to know (about reauditing). It is a process of going public, which pushes the company to be transparent and make improvements in all aspects,” Laksmana said before attending the House of Representatives’ budget committee meeting on Friday in Jakarta.
When asked about possible delay in PGN’s IPO, he said, “hopefully, not. If possible, we will process it with a time frame.”
Earlier, PGN’s president director W.M.P. Simanjuntak said that the company’s 2001 financial report will be reaudited by Ernst & Young (E&Y).
The same report was already audited by Arthur Andersen and the audit result was not accepted due to the black listing of Arthur Andersen following its alleged involvement in Enron case in the U.S.
Further, the audit will be repeated in order to fulfill the requirement as laid down under the Regulation S and 144A. It will strengthen PGN ‘s position during the IPO process.
Due to this audit problem, the listing of PGN shares on Jakarta Stock Exchange was postponed to December 12 from November 21,2003, Simanjuntak said.
He expects that the new audit will be finished by November 3, 2003.
There will not be any problem with the PGN’s 2002 financial report as it has been audited by the state and government auditing agencies BPKP and BPK, who gave their consent.
The gas utility company plans to raise up to Rp 3.6 trillion or about US$400 million from the sales of its 30 percent stake through an initial public offering (IPO).
PGN needs huge amount of investment to complete several gas pipeline projects like Grissik-Pagar Dewa in South Sumatra, Duri (Riau)-Belawan (North Sumatra) pipelines and another pipeline from Riau to Singapore. (*)