JAKARTA. The Indonesian government still continues to nurse PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (GIAA) back to health. After the rights issue and state equity participation/domestic investment, the next step in the restructuring process is holding a private placement.

Erick Thohir, the Minister of State-Owned Enterprise (BUMN), revealed that the private placement is scheduled to take place in the next few months, while the government awaits and ensures GIAA’s stock price to come back to the normal range. GIAA had reportedly received domestic investment from the government worth IDR 7.5 trillion and conducted a rights issue of IDR 7.79 trillion.

The next corporate action will be a private placement through the distribution of equity as debt conversion, amounting to 25.8 billion units of shares worth IDR 5.05 trillion and including the realisation of convertible bonds. “The corporate action shall offer added value for this country,” Thohit said during the Mandiri Investment Forum yesterday (1/2).

On separate occasion, Kartika “Tiko” Wirjoatmodjo, Vice Minister of BUMN II, mentioned that the private placement is projected to raise USD 300 to 400 million, equivalent to IDR 4.5 to 6 trillion in total. The exact value of this emission will depend on GIAA’s performance until the end of the first quarter of 2023, allowing more time to convince investors.

Tiko also claimed that several potential investors have started to seek chances to participate in Garuda Indonesia’s private placement, such as several Middle-Eastern airlines. However, the discussion has yet to touch the topic of the investment value, as it still arrives at the early stage. “Hopefully, we could give more updates in march. We hope several airlines in the Middle East could participate [in the private placement],” he said. (AM/ZH)