CVC’s Venture Pays $771 Million to Acquire Matahari Store Unit

Bloomberg, by Widya Utami and Achmad Sukarsono

Jan. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Meadow Asia Company Ltd., a unit of U.K. buyout firm CVC Capital Partners Ltd., paid 7.2 trillion rupiah ($771 million) to buy the department store unit of PT Matahari Putra Prima, Indonesia’s biggest retailer.

Jakarta-based Matahari Putra sold its 90.76 percent stake in PT Matahari Department Store to Meadow, a venture it established with CVC Capital, Benjamin Mailool, president director of Matahari Putra, told reporters in Jakarta today.

Matahari Putra’s shares jumped 10.9 percent to 1,120 rupiah in Jakarta today, the biggest increase in almost two years. The retailer plans to buy a 20 percent stake in Meadow, with an option to purchase an additional 10 percent, Mailool said.

This transaction is “proof of foreign investor interest in Indonesian companies,” said Edwin Sinaga, president director of PT FinanCorpindo Nusa, a Jakarta-based brokerage firm. “The share surged as people expect a tender offer.”

Meadow will also buy another 7.24 percent stake in Matahari Department Store from shareholders, Matahari Putra said in a filing today on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. The agreement was signed on Jan. 23, the statement said.

Matahari Department’s shares surged 24 percent to 1,680 rupiah.

To contact the reporter on this story: Widya Utami in Jakarta at wutami@bloomberg.net; Achmad Sukarsono in Jakarta at asukarsono@bloomberg.net