Matahari shares up for grabs

HONG KONG: CVC Capital Partners and PT Multipolar Tbk yesterday launched an up to US$1.36 billion (RM4.2 billion) offering of shares in retailer PT Matahari Department Store, seeking to benefit from growing investor appetite for consumer stocks in Indonesia and partially cash out of one of their most profitable investments in the region.

CVC, through one of its subsidiaries, and Multipolar are offering 1.167 billion shares in Matahari in a range of 10,000 rupiah to 11,250 rupiah (RM3.20 to RM3.60), putting the total deal at 13.13 trillion rupiah, according to the term sheet.

CVC's exit from Matahari is on target to be among the most profitable for a big firm in Southeast Asia.

The London-based private equity firm led a group that acquired Matahari in 2010 for US$790 million, including debt, and is now making a partial exit that values the company at US$3.4 billion, according to Reuters calculations.

CVC declined to comment while Multipolar and Matahari did not immediately return a request for comment on the offering.

The share sale is expected to be priced on March 21, with the settlement set for March 27, the terms showed.

The offering has secured about US$435 million in cornerstone pledges from a who's who of global and regional investors, including BlackRock, Fidelity Investments, Schroders and Goldman Sachs' GS Investment Strategies.

The group of 15 investors also includes Government of Singapore Investment Corp and state investor Temasek, and hedge funds Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC and Azentus Capital Management Ltd.

The secondary share sale, equivalent to a 40 per cent stake in Matahari, would cut the stakes owned by Multipolar and CVC in Indonesia's top department store operator. Reuters