State-owned Semen Gresik should get first refusal on purchasing shares in the local company being sold by Cemex, Indonesia’s Vice President Jusuf Kalla said Friday.
The government has directed the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises to ensure that Semen Gresik is prioritised as a potential buyer for Cemex’s proposed share sale ahead of any other firms, Kalla told reporters.
"Cemex should offer the stake sale...to Semen Gresik first and then Semen Gresik has five days to decide," he said.
"Then (if Semen Gresik isn’t interested), they can be offered to other private companies."
The vice president’s comments come after Indonesia’s Rajawali Group conglomerate announced plans to purchase a 24.9% stake in Semen Gresik from Cemex.
Rajawali said last week it had signed a conditional purchase agreement to buy the stake in Gresik, the nation’s largest cement maker by output, from Cemex for US$337m.