Govt to raise Rp 790 billion from sale of BTPN shares

JAKARTA (Jakarta Post): The government expects to raise up to Rp 790 billion (about US$86.3 million) from the sale of its shares in the Bandung-based private lender PT Bank Tabungan Pensiunan Nasional (BTPN).

BTPN president director Paulus Wiranata said Monday the government would offer all of its more than 267 million shares, which account for approximately 28.93 percent of the bank's total shares, at a price range of Rp 2,700 to 2,950 per share.

"The government decided to sell its stake in the bank to the public, and all money raised from this initial public offering will be received by the Finance Ministry," he told a media conference.

The share offering, he said, would be carried out from March 3 to 5 following a road show for international investors in Singapore and Hong Kong from Feb. 19 to 20, with Commerce International Merchant Bankers (CIMB) and BNI Securities appointed as the underwriters.

Paulus said with the IPO, the bank should be listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) by March 12.

The bank's remaining four shareholders, with a total 71.61 percent ownership, are also planning to carry out a sale of their shares to TPG Nusantara, a local unit of global private investment firm Texas Pacific Group.

The four shareholders are PT Recapital with a 22.61 percent stake, entrepreneur Fuad Hasan Masyhur at 20 percent, PT Danatama Makmur at 19 percent and Bakrie Capital at 10 percent.

BTPN, established in 1958 as a pensioners' savings bank, now operates as a fully fledged commercial bank with 398 offices throughout the country, and plans to open nine more branch offices in the eastern part of the country.

In 2007, Paulus said, the bank recorded around Rp 350 billion in net profit with total assets of about Rp 10.5 trillion. The bank disbursed Rp 6 trillion in loans last year and expected the figure to grow to Rp 8 trillion this year.(ndr)