Indofood set to acquire London Sumatra at a cost of Rp 8.4 trillion

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

PT Indofood Sukses Makmur, the world's largest instant noodle maker, will take over PT London Sumatra Indonesia Plantations (LSIP) in a transaction that could cost some Rp 8.4 trillion (US$913 million).

Under the plan, Indofood will acquire a 64.4 percent stake in LSIP from major shareholders and hold a tender offer to buy the other 35.6 percent from public investors, Indofood vice president Franciscus Welirang said.

Franciscus said the acquisition plan has been approved by Indofood shareholders and would be executed through its subsidiaries PT Salim Ivomas Pratama (SIMP) and Indofood Agri Resources Ltd. (IndoAgri), which is listed in Singapore.

"We, through SIMP, will buy 500.09 million LSIP shares from Singapore-based First Durango and London-based Ashmore Funds as well as LSIP's US$47 million mandatory convertible notes, which could be converted into 269.34 million shares, at a total cost of Rp 5 trillion.

"Those transactions will be equal to a 56.4 percent stake," he said after an extraordinary shareholders meeting Tuesday.

The publicly listed company will also spend Rp 711.9 billion to buy Eddy Kusnadi Sariaatmadja's 109.52 million LSIP shares valued at Rp 6,500 each, equal to an 8 percent stake.

It will then hold a tender offer to buy the other 35.6 percent of LSIP's shares from the public at Rp 6,900 each.

Thomas Tjhie, Indofood financial director, said to finance the acquisition Indofood would use Rp 5.71 trillion from a bank loan secured by SIMP, Rp 1.2 trillion in internal funds controlled by the company's edible oil and fat (EOF) division and Rp 1.45 trillion in a stand-by loan.

The SIMP loan will likely come from seven banks, including BCA, ING of the Netherlands, Standard Chartered Bank of England and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation of Japan.

Thomas said the acquisition would make Indofood's EOF division the largest palm plantation owner in Indonesia with around 387,000 hectares of land, comprising 224,000 hectares controlled by IndoAgri and 163,000 hectares by LSIP.

"We now produce 640,000 metric tons of crude palm oil (CPO) per year, a bit lower than 690,000 metric tons needed by Indofood's cooking oil and margarine division," he said.

LSIP is an Indonesia-based publicly listed plantation company supported by operational branch offices in Medan, Palembang, Makassar, Surabaya and Samarinda. It is engaged in the planting and developing of oil palms, rubber, cocoa, coconut, tea and coffee.

It also develops palm oil plantations on behalf of local smallholders. It has two subsidiaries: PT Multi Agro Kencana Prima, a plantation, processing and trading company, and Lonsum Singapore Pte Ltd., a trading and marketing company based in Singapore.