TEMPO.CO, Jakarta-Director General of Mineral and Coal for Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry Bambang Gatot said the divestment price of PT Freeport Indonesia has yet to be decided. To date, the government is still reviewing the purchase price of a 10.64 percent stake.
“We are still discussing the price for the government to make a verdict. We only need to decide on it’s price,” Bambang said Monday, April 4, 2016.
Bambang said that the government has yet to summon Freeport as the review is not yet completed. The government is targeting that divestment of Freeport McMoRan Inc’s subsidiary to be completed this year. “If it fails to be completed this year, we will proceed to the next year.”
Earlier, PT Freeport Indonesia has proposed for divestment of 10.64 percent stake. Based on the procedure, the divestment was first offered to the central government; should the central government did not buy the shares within 90 days from the offering, the shares will be offered to regional government.
If the regional government did not buy the shares within 60 days, Freeport shares will be offered to state-owened enterprises (SOEs) or region-owned enterprises (BUMD). If SOEs or BUMD are not interested, divestment process will be repeated the following year.
Meanwhile, PT Aneka Tambang, PT Inalum, PT Timah and PT Bukit Asam are reported to be interested in buying the shares. They have also prepared a scheme to take over the shares and formed a special purpose vehicle. The SPV set up by the SOEs has claimed its readiness with an equity of US$510 million.
ANGELA ANJAR SAWITRI
