Menara to consider listing on Bursa or SGX after Jakarta IPO

JOHOR BARU: Indonesian group PT Menara Buana Perkasa, which plans to go public on the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSE) within the next three years, will also consider listing either in Malaysia or Singapore.

President and chief executive officer Chairul Anhar said after its listing on the JSE, the company would be looking at dual listing either on Bursa Malaysia or the Singapore Exchange.

“Six years into business, we are ready to be listed as it will place the company on a strong footing in the republic,” said president and chief executive officer Chairul Anhar on the sidelines of the 8th World Islamic Economic Forum here on Tuesday.

He was speaking at a press conference after signing a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with Sofgen Holdings Ltd to provide the IT solutions for banking and related financial services to Indonesian banks.

Chairul said the company had 400,000ha of oil palm plantation and 500,000ha of sugar care plantation in Irian Jaya.

Apart from plantation activities, the company also has other business interest in property and trading with a strong business network in Indonesia.

Asked whether it planned to work with Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd, Chairul said the company had decided not to as the earlier discussions between the two parties did not materialise.

“In fact, we held talks with Felda on possible collaborations long before Datuk Sabri Ahmad was appointed as its group president and chief executive officer,” he said.

Chairul said although the two parties had terminated the discussion, Menara was looking at supplying sugar to FGVH's unit MSM Holdings Sdn Bhd.

He said Malaysia planned to import 1.7 million tonnes of sugar from Indonesia and the company would benefit from it as it had a large tract of land for sugar cane plantations.

“To import 1.7 million tonnes sugar yearly, you have to have at least 200,000ha of sugar cane plantation and our 500,000ha are enough to produce that amount,” said Chairul.

Under the MoA, Menara would provide provisional banking services to improve and enhance the technology used by 100 banks in Indonesia.