Jakarta (ANTARA News) - State Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan has given the green light to the plan of two stock issue underwriters to sell Garuda Indonesia shares through an initial public offering (IPO).

"I leave the matter to their boards of directors and I will just approve it," Dahlan said here on Friday.

Garuda Indonesia had appointed PT Danareksa Sekuritas and PT Bahana Securities as its stock issue underwriters.

Dahlan said the plan to sell Garuda Indonesia shares was the securities companies` corporate action. The two state-owned securities companies were in the process of finding investors to buy the shares.

"They are in the process of finding investors," he said.

Deputy for Business Affairs to the State Enterprises Minister Parikesit Suprapto said the two securities companies would sell the shares at the end of this year.

"They told me that they would sell them at the end of this year," he said.

The report came after the market could not absorb 3,008,406,725 Garuda shares worth an estimated Rp2.256 trillion. Based on the capital market regulation, the stock issue underwriters must buy the shares.

Garuda Indonesia has signed an underwriting agreement under a single point system with PT Danareksa Sekuritas, PT Mandiri Sekuritas, and PT Bahana Securities. This means that the three securities companies must buy the shares for Rp752 billion each according to their proportion.

The agreement appeared to have dealt a blow to Danareksa and Bahana as could be seen from their financial statements from the first to the third quarters in which they suffered a loss of Rp59.86 billion and Rp290.630 billion each.
(T.KR-SSB/S012/HAJM/A014)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011