The Jakarta Post reported that the Indonesian government and Japanese consortium Nippon Asahan Aluminium have agreed that the takeover of Indonesia Asahan Aluminium will be made through a transfer of shares, instead of transferring assets as stipulated in the contract between the two parties.
Mr Agus Tjahajana deputy chief negotiator for the takeover said that “We’ve also agreed to carry out the transaction on November 1st 2012.”
The 30 year contract between Indonesia and the consortium will expire at the end of October and the government has been firm in its plan to acquire its full stake amid its campaign to spur growth in the downstream industry.”
MS Hidayat industry minister of Indonesia said that North Sumatra where Inalum is located can be developed into an industrial cluster for aluminium based products.
Established in 1976, Inalum is 41.12% owned by the Indonesian government and 58.88% by the consortium of 12 Japanese firms comprising, among others, Mitsui Aluminium Company Limited, Mitsubishi Corporation, Sumitomo Chemical Company Limited and Sumitomo Shoji Kaisha Limited.
Inalum, which has run the only aluminum smelter in Southeast Asia since 1983, annually produces 250,000 tonnes of aluminum ingots of which 60% is exported to Japan with the remainder sold in the domestic market.
Mr Agus said that the government would continue intensive talks with NAA as disagreement still persisted on a few issues. One of the crucial issues is about the calculation of the book value. We are seeking the way out of this problem. Both parties still maintained different views on the methods of calculating the book value.
He said that based on the Finance Ministry’s estimate, the book value of the firm was USD 1.23 billion last year and on this assumption the stake to be acquired by the government amounts to USD 723 million. Both parties would wait for the tax audits of the firm’s annual financial report for the fiscal year ending in March 31.
Sourced from Steelguru.com
