Timah to compete with 15 foreign firms, five locals over Salim mining assets
Friday, January 19 2001 - 04:00 AM WIB
The publicly-listed state-owned tin mining company PT Tambang Timah will compete with around 15 foreign firms and five local companies including the state-owned coal mining firm PT Bukit Asam to acquire four coal mining companies of the Salim Group, according to the Kontan economic weekly.
The four coal mining companies with assets worth around Rp 1 trillion (US$1=Rp 9,400) have been transferred by Salim to the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) in a bid to repay debt to the government.
Only two of the four coal mining companies have made production: PT Indominco and PT Kitadin.
Salim was once the country's largest conglomerate.
Kontan said that Timah was very interested to purchase the ex-Salim assets because of their good quality.
The paper said that Timah had around Rp 300 billion in cash per September 2000. The company is expected to raise additional cash for the planned acquisition by issuing bonds.(*)