Indonesian Antitrust Authorities Are Evaluating Temasek Assets for Seizure
Indonesian Authorities Evaluating Temasek Assets for Seizure
Munshi Ahmed/Bloomberg
The Singapore state-owned investment company lost its final appeal in the Supreme Court on May 24 for violating antitrust laws, the Indonesian court said on its website at the time.
The Singapore state-owned investment company lost its final appeal in the Supreme Court on May 24 for violating antitrust laws, the Indonesian court said on its website at the time. Photographer: Munshi Ahmed/Bloomberg
Indonesia’s anti-monopoly agency is evaluating Temasek Holdings Pte’s assets in the country and said the government has the right to seize them if a court-imposed fine isn’t paid.
The Singapore state-owned investment company lost its final appeal in the Supreme Court on May 24 for violating antitrust laws, the Indonesian court said on its website at the time. A fine of 150 billion rupiah ($17 million), which includes 15 billion rupiah for each of 10 Temasek-linked companies, including the holding company, involved in the case, was set, the anti-monopoly agency said.
“We’re now inventorying Temasek’s assets and expect to complete that in 2011, and they will be seized if the fine isn’t paid,” Tresna Soemardi, the agency’s chairman, said in a phone interview yesterday.
The Temasek case may cause uncertainty and cool foreign investors’ appetite for Indonesian assets in the short-term, said Chandra Pasaribu, an analyst at PT Danareska Securities in Jakarta.
“This case won’t affect investment in Indonesia medium to long term,” Pasaribu said by phone today “But the coverage of the case will bring negative impact as it will tend to affect the intention to invest in Indonesia due to the monopoly. The investment risk will increase.”
Antitrust Laws
The Indonesian competition regulator KPPU has said Temasek breached antitrust laws by using indirect stakes in PT Telekomunikasi Selular, known as Telkomsel, and PT Indosat, the country’s top two mobile-phone service providers, to fix prices.
“Temasek has not received official notification from the Supreme Court,” Goh Yong Siang, Temasek’s senior managing director of strategic relations, said in an e-mailed response to queries.
The Central Jakarta District Court received the formal notification from the Supreme Court, sent on Dec. 3, and is processing the document that it will then send to KPPU, Temasek and the South Jakarta District Court, where the Temasek lawyers settled the case, said Hendro Santosa, a spokesman at the Central Jakarta District Court.
It took since May because the court had to collect the 770 pages of the judicial review panel, Santosa said.
“Once the company has been formally notified of the fine and doesn’t pay it, the Indonesian anti-monopoly commission may ask for a court order to seize the assets,” Muhammad Reza, the agency’s chief of investigations, said by phone yesterday.
Temasek’s Singapore Technologies Telemedia Pte unit sold its stake in Indosat, Indonesia’s second-largest mobile-phone services provider, to Qatar Telecom QSC in June 2008 after an earlier district court ruling. A unit of Singapore Telecommunications Ltd., Southeast Asia’s biggest phone operator and majority owned by Temasek, has a 35 percent stake in Telkomsel, the biggest mobile carrier.
Koran Tempo first reported the possible seizure of Temasek’s assets yesterday.
To contact the reporter on this story: Femi Adi in Jakarta at fadi1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andreea Papuc at apapuc1@bloomberg.net
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