The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.
Bloomberg
PE firms including Warburg Pincus are vying with suitors across Asia for control of a TPG-backed Indonesian consumer finance company, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Taiwan’s Cathay Financial Holding Co. and South Korea’s Shinhan Financial Group Co. are among first-round bidders for a stake in PT BFI Finance Indonesia, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the details are private.
BFI Finance has also attracted interest from Baring Private Equity Asia, the people said. Trinugraha Capital has received at least 10 bids for the stake, according to the people.
Shares of BFI Finance have more than doubled over the past year, giving the Jakarta-based firm a market value of $986 million. The benchmark Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite Index, which hit a record high last month, rose about 20 percent over the same period.
Foreign financial firms have been drawn to Indonesia’s rapid economic growth and the size of its population. Any deal for BFI Finance would add to the $8.5 billion of announced acquisitions in Indonesia in the past 12 months, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. agreed in December to buy a $1.2 billion stake in PT Bank Danamon Indonesia. Trinugraha Capital’s other investors include Southeast Asian buyout firm Northstar Group and Indonesian businessman Garibaldi Thohir. It hopes to choose a winning bidder around mid-year, one of the people said.