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The world's biggest shrimp producer, PT Central Proteinaprima
(CP Prima), announced Wednesday that it planned to bid for another
acquaculture firm, PT Dipasena Citra Darmaja, in a move that would
further expand its shrimp farming business.
With the support of two financial advisors, Barclays Capital and BNP
Paribas, CP Prima, a subsidiary of Thai agribusiness firm Charoen
Pokphand Group, will participate in the auction of the Dipasena, which
will be held by the State Asset Management Company (PPA) on May 25.
"CP prima has taken the initiative by availing of the services of
Barclays Capital and BNP Paribas to prove its seriousness in arranging
the necessary resources to meet the requirements for the acquisition of
Dipasena," CP Prima operations director Erwin Sutanto said in a
statement sent to The Jakarta Post.
The company said in the statement that the decision to acquire Dipasena
was part of its plan to expand its network in the shrimp-farming sector
and to strengthen the company's position as the leader in the
aquaculture business.
Erwin said that the company had paid a deposit of Rp 25 billion (about
US$2.75 million) as a precondition set by the PPA for participating in
the Dipasena sale.
Under the requirements set by the PPA, investors interested in bidding
must have experience of the aquaculture business and be able to invest
a minimum of Rp 1.7 trillion to develop Dipasena's shrimp farms, which
are run in collaboration with local farmers.
"CP Prima is one of the biggest aquaculture producers in the world and
has a strong business model. BNP Paribas is glad to be able to support
CP Prima in putting its strategy into effect," BNP Paribas senior
advisor Ronald Felt said in the news release.
Barclays Capital representative Sity Leo Samudera said that Barclays
gladly supported the company's plan to acquire Dipasena from the
government.
Initially, an exclusive option to take over Dipasena was extended by
the government to PT Recapital Advisors in return for a promise to
inject fresh capital into Dipasena by March 1.
After failing to meet the deadline, Recapital was automatically
stripped of its option.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani said last month that the government had
treated Recapital fairly as the company had been given a 12-month grace
period to fulfill its commitments.
During its heyday, Dipasena was one of the biggest shrimp producers in
the world, with output amounting to some 19,854 tons in 1996.
The government took control of Dipasena from Gajah Tunggal Group tycoon
Sjamsul Nursalim in part settlement of his Rp 28 trillion debt to the
state following the country's financial crisis in early 1998.
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