Panin seeks to buy ailing Sarijaya: IDX

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 01/21/2009 12:14 PM  

PT Panin Sekuritas, a unit of financial giant Panin Group, is planning to take over ailing securities company PT Sarijaya Sekuritas. 

Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX) director Erry Firmansyah said Tuesday it had received a letter of intent from Panin Sekuritas. 

“We have received the official letter from Panin but have yet to arrange any further meeting,” Erry told reporters. Panin Sekuritas confirmed its interest in Sarijaya. 

“The plan is just part of our expansion, especially on retail customers,” said Panin Sekuritas corporate secretary Prama Nugraha, refusing to disclose the cost of the takeover. 

Panin has six branches in Jakarta, Medan, Bandung and Surabaya, serving 5,000 clients.  

Its operation is far smaller than Sarijaya, which has 48 branches in Java, Bali, Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi serving 8.700 clients --  6,000 of which are retail customers. 

“Despite the ongoing investigation on Sarijaya, we will continue to probe the performance of the firm,” said Prama. 

Sarijaya, one of the country’s biggest securities firms, has been under strict supervision since the IDX and the Capital Market and Financial Institution Supervisory Agency (Bapepam-LK) spotted an alleged scam by the firm’s president director, Herman Ramli. 

The scam has caused a loss of at least Rp 245 billion (US$22.5 million) of investor’s money. 

The IDX suspended Sarijaya’s trading  as from Jan. 6,  while Bapepam froze its assets and accounts. 

Due partly to the scam, Sarijaya’s minimum net adjusted working capital plunged to negative Rp 5.6 trillion from the required minimum level of Rp 25 billion. 

Aside from Panin, at least three other investors, including Trimegah Sekuritas, a consortium of investors from Hongkong, Melbourne in Australia and Indonesia, and an independent local investment consortium led by Vier Jamal, have announced interest in Sarijaya. 

“But we have yet to receive any official notification“ Erry said. 

Erry also said the IDX had completed talks with Vier Jamal, and had agreed to halt any further negotiation while waiting for the progress of the ongoing prosecution. 

Vier Jamal would allocate Rp 400 billion for acquiring Sarijaya. This included Rp 250 billion for restructuring and recovery purposes with the remaining Rp 150 billion for business expansion.