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Govt to sell Merpati to save the ailing airline
The government plans to sell state company Merpati Nusantara Airlines to strategic investors to help salvage the ailing airline company, which has been burdened by huge debt totaling Rp 6 trillion (US$600 million)
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he government plans to sell state company Merpati Nusantara Airlines to strategic investors to help salvage the ailing airline company, which has been burdened by huge debt totaling Rp 6 trillion (US$600 million).
'Selling its shares to strategic investors has become an option because various efforts to restructure Merpati have not gone as well as expected,' State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan said on Thursday as quoted by tribunnews.com.
Dahlan said that the decision to sell Merpati was made during a BUMN Ministry leadership meeting at Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister in Jakarta on Thursday.
The State-Owned Enterprises Ministry, which is authorized to represent Merpati's shareholders, would accept bids from interested investors and input on how to salvage the ailing airline company, the minister said.
Dahlan explained that the BUMN Ministry had carried out various restructuring programs, from a fund injection, downsizing and relocation of the company's head office, to converting its debts to private creditors into shares.
Besides being heavily in debt to the government, Merpati also owes money to several state companies, including oil and gas firm Pertamina and airport management company Angkasa Pura II.
