<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=452 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Published September 13, 2008
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Temasek dismayed by court ruling
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(Jakarta)
TEMASEK has expressed its disappointment over the Indonesia Supreme Court's decision to turn down an appeal in a legal battle with the country's anti-trust agency.
Indonesia's anti-trust body KPPU ruled last year that the Singapore investment company and its affiliates were in breach of anti-monopoly laws and ordered the sale of one of their telecoms units in Indonesia. In May, a district court upheld the KPPU ruling.
Nurhadi, a Supreme Court spokesman, said on Friday that the rejection was final and there would be no further appeal.
'Temasek is disappointed with the verdict announced today by the Indonesian Supreme Court,' said managing director Goh Yong Siang in a brief statement.
Meanwhile, SingTel, through which Temasek holds 35 per cent of PT Telekomunikasi Selular (Telkomsel), Indonesia's largest mobile phone operator, is still reviewing its options. 'We will await the Supreme Court's written judgment and review it before deciding our next course of action,' it said in a statement.
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>In May, the district court had also said that Temasek should sell the stake to a number of parties not affiliated to each other or to itself. It ruled that each could only control a maximum of 10 per cent sold.
Temasek has denied engaging in anti-competitive behaviour, saying that it owned minority stakes in the two Indonesian mobile operators. Temasek, through its units, has held stakes in Telkomsel and PT Indosat Tbk, the top two mobile operators in South-east Asia's largest economy.
While the appeal process was on, in June, Singapore's ST Telemedia, a wholly owned unit of Temasek, sold its stake in Indosat to Qatar Telecom for US$1.35 billion. But the Supreme court scrapped the ruling restricting it from selling to affiliated firms and limiting each buyer to a maximum 10 per cent stake, which analysts said would clear the way for the Qatar Telecom deal.
'Basically, it would smooth out the Qatar Telecom deal, it would not create problems for it,' said Franco Sutedjowodjojo, head of research at Ciptadana Securities.
Foreigners frequently cite red tape, graft and an unpredictable legal environment as the main deterrents when it comes to doing business in Indonesia.
Temasek, through SingTel, still owns 35 per cent of Telkomsel, Indonesia's largest mobile phone operator with more than 50 per cent share of the total subscribers. Indonesia's largest telecommunications company, state-owned PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk, holds the remaining 65 per cent of Telkomsel, making the government effectively the controller of Telkomsel.
Temasek invested heavily in Indonesia's telecoms and banking sectors after the 1997-98 financial crisis, but has been forced to divest one of its bank stakes and has now given up its ownership in Indosat.
Indonesia's telecommunication sector had attracted many foreigners to invest in the sector, lured by the rapid growth in the mobile phone business. The number of mobile phone subscribers has increased rapidly in recent years and is expected to top 120 million this year from 90 million in 2007. Reuters
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</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Temasek dismayed by court ruling
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TEMASEK has expressed its disappointment over the Indonesia Supreme Court's decision to turn down an appeal in a legal battle with the country's anti-trust agency.
Indonesia's anti-trust body KPPU ruled last year that the Singapore investment company and its affiliates were in breach of anti-monopoly laws and ordered the sale of one of their telecoms units in Indonesia. In May, a district court upheld the KPPU ruling.
Nurhadi, a Supreme Court spokesman, said on Friday that the rejection was final and there would be no further appeal.
'Temasek is disappointed with the verdict announced today by the Indonesian Supreme Court,' said managing director Goh Yong Siang in a brief statement.
Meanwhile, SingTel, through which Temasek holds 35 per cent of PT Telekomunikasi Selular (Telkomsel), Indonesia's largest mobile phone operator, is still reviewing its options. 'We will await the Supreme Court's written judgment and review it before deciding our next course of action,' it said in a statement.
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Temasek has denied engaging in anti-competitive behaviour, saying that it owned minority stakes in the two Indonesian mobile operators. Temasek, through its units, has held stakes in Telkomsel and PT Indosat Tbk, the top two mobile operators in South-east Asia's largest economy.
While the appeal process was on, in June, Singapore's ST Telemedia, a wholly owned unit of Temasek, sold its stake in Indosat to Qatar Telecom for US$1.35 billion. But the Supreme court scrapped the ruling restricting it from selling to affiliated firms and limiting each buyer to a maximum 10 per cent stake, which analysts said would clear the way for the Qatar Telecom deal.
'Basically, it would smooth out the Qatar Telecom deal, it would not create problems for it,' said Franco Sutedjowodjojo, head of research at Ciptadana Securities.
Foreigners frequently cite red tape, graft and an unpredictable legal environment as the main deterrents when it comes to doing business in Indonesia.
Temasek, through SingTel, still owns 35 per cent of Telkomsel, Indonesia's largest mobile phone operator with more than 50 per cent share of the total subscribers. Indonesia's largest telecommunications company, state-owned PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk, holds the remaining 65 per cent of Telkomsel, making the government effectively the controller of Telkomsel.
Temasek invested heavily in Indonesia's telecoms and banking sectors after the 1997-98 financial crisis, but has been forced to divest one of its bank stakes and has now given up its ownership in Indosat.
Indonesia's telecommunication sector had attracted many foreigners to invest in the sector, lured by the rapid growth in the mobile phone business. The number of mobile phone subscribers has increased rapidly in recent years and is expected to top 120 million this year from 90 million in 2007. Reuters
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