M&A

8 March, 2010

Indonesian Telecom Tower Operator Sarana’s Stock Beams Up 50% Gain After IDX Debut

PT Sarana Menara Nusantara's shares closed almost 50 percent over their offer price after the telecommunications tower-operator debuted on the Indonesian Stock Exchange on Monday.

The company, which is affiliated with tobacco company PT Djarum, floated 11 percent of its equity, raising Rp 117.84 billion ($12.8 million) of fresh capital.

Sarana Menara Nusantara stock jumped to Rp 1,570 (17 cents), compared with an offer price of Rp 1,050.

"The purpose of our public offering is to further introduce investors to the business of renting independent tower services, as we think that the Indonesian public has yet to become familiar with this type of business," said Arif Pradana, Sarana's corporate secretary.

About a third of the offer proceeds would be used to help pay for 3,692 telecommunications towers that Sarana is gradually acquiring from PT Hutchison Indonesia, a subsidiary of Hong Kong's Hutchison Telecommunications International, Arif said.

Sarana began acquiring the communications infrastructure, valued at $500 million, in 2008 through subsidiary PT Profesional Telekomunikasi Indonesia.

More than 3,000 of the towers have been bought so far and the remainder would be acquired before 2011, said Adam Gifari, Sarana's president director.

"By the end of this year, when the acquisition process has been completed, we will own at least 5,000 tower units," he said.

Arif said that Protelindo had taken out a $360 million loan agreement with a syndicate of eight banks - Chinatrust Commercial Bank, CIMB Bank of Singapore, Singapore's DBS Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, PT Bank OCBC NISP, PT Bank Central Asia, ABN AMRO Bank in Singapore, and PT Bank Mandiri - in late 2008 to help finance the acquisition of the Hutchison towers.

Around Rp 40 billion of the money raised from the share sale would go toward paying off the loan, he said.

Protelindo rents its towers to telecom operators including PT Bakrie Telecom, PT Indosat, PT Telkomunikasi Selular, PT Natrindo Telepon Seluler and PT Mobile-8 Telecom.

Arif said that Sarana was forecasting revenue of Rp 43.6 billion to Rp 44 billion this year, a gain of 9 percent to 10 percent over last year's Rp 40 billion.

Sarana's update on the purchase of the telecom towers came just after Hutchison Telecommunications was forced to wipe $97 million in after-tax profit from its 2008 financial results as a result of questions raised by the US Securities and Exchange Commission about how it had accounted for the sale of the telecom towers to Sarana.

Hutchison Telecommunications' parent company, Hutchison Whampoa, owned by Hong Kong's richest man Li Ka-shing, told the Wall Street Journal last Friday that the restating of the earnings would not affect its move to take full control of Hutchison Telecommunications.

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com