TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:Coal mining company PT Bukit Asam (PTBA) is now considering whether or not to conduct another due-diligence on Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) so that it can obtain all necessary data in estimating the proper price of KPC shares. PTBA is considering of conducting a further due diligence process, said the companys corporate secretary Milawarma a written report to the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) in on Tuesday (04/02). According to her, this measure will to be taken if there is a guarantee that PTBA will obtain all necessary information within an adequate period of time and be able to review the KPC shares value in a proper manner. Milawarma said that the price being offered by the government for its 20-percent share in KPC was too high. As reported earlier, in a limited cabinet meeting held last July, the government decided to allocate 51 percent of KPC shares. Of this, 31 percent was allocated to the East Kalimantan government and 20 percent to the central government. PTBA and PT Aneka Tambang Tbk earlier stated their interest in buying the central governments 20 percent share. The office of the State Minister for State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) then chose PTBA as the buyer of the central governments 20-percent share in KPC. The government then determined a price of US$419 million for the 51 percent share in KPC, or US$ 822 million for 100 percent of the shares. According to the government, this is a fixed price for the KPC shares and was not negotiable. The government also fixed the completion date of January 31, 2003, for the payment and final transaction as stipulated in the frame-work agreement. However, PTBA and its consulting company Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) carried out a high-level review over the price fixed by the government. From the result of this review, that has been made in a limited time on limited data, we conclude that the price for KPC shares is too high, said Milawarma. Based on the result of this review, Milawarma said, the PTBA decided not to carry out any payment by January 31, 2003, the deadline of the payment time. We would like to carry out another due-diligence process over a longer period, she stated. (Yura Syahrul - Tempo News Room)
