South Sumatra govt wants to own stake in PTBA

The South Sumatra provincial administration wants to immediately meet with the board of directors of state-owned coal miner PT Batubara Bukit Asam (PTBA) to discuss the possibility for the provincial government to own a stake in the company, according to a report in the local Sumatera Ekspress daily.

The paper quoted South Sumatra Governor Rosihan Arsyad as saying that the meeting was expected to take place this week before the Moslem?s Idul Fitri celebration.

The paper did not give details about the investment plans.

PTBA owns a huge coal mining concession in the South Sumatra?s Muara Enim regency. It also owns a concession in West Sumatra. The company produced 10.2 million tons of coal in 2001.

The central government is planning to divest a 15 percent stake in PTBA through an initial public offering (IPO) in the local bourses. Reports earlier said that another 20 percent stake would be sold via the Canadian stock market.

Six foreign institutional investors were reportedly to have expressed interest to purchase stake in PTBA. They include AIG Investment from Singapore, Phaim Asset Management (Singapore), Indocam Asset Mangement (Hongkong), Fidelity Investment (Hongkong), Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) (Malaysia) and Kideco Jaya Agung (Korea).

Three local investors are also interested to purchase the stake. They are Taspen, Dana Pensiun Perkebunan and Schroder Investment Management. (*)