Govt to merge public mining companies by third quarter 2009

The Jakarta Post  |  Sun, 02/15/2009 6:20 PM  

The government has vowed to establish a holding company of state mining firms before the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono administration ends its term on Oct. 20. 

"The holding company will be established this year, it's just a matter of paperwork," said deputy state minister for state-owned enterprises Sahala Rajagukguk in Jakarta, as quoted by Antara news agency Sunday. 

Sahala added the holding company, which would be named Indonesia Resources Company (IRC), would be fully up and running at the beginning of the third quarter of 2009, before the current administration ends its tenure. 

The holding company, he said, would manage gold producer PT Aneka Tambang, tin producer PT Timah and coal producer PT Tambang\ Batubara Bukit Asam, plus manage minority ownership in gold\ producer PT Freeport and aluminum producer PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium. 

The merging of the three companies, he said, was relatively easy to do since all three were already governed using international best practices, which the companies adopted when they first went public. 

The merger of the three publicly listed companies is expected to create a global player in mining with a total market capitalization of US$10 billion. (and)