Cemex SA has agreed to sell its 25 per cent stake in PT Semen Gresik to settle a long-standing dispute over a failed option to acquire a majority stake in Indonesia’s largest cement maker, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Aburizal Bakrie said.
He said that instead of fighting for additional shares, Cemex is now willing to divest its existing stake in Gresik and use the proceeds to invest in new plants.
The dispute emerged in 2001 after the government failed to exercise a put option to sell a controlling 51 pct stake in Semen Gresik to Cemex. The government had to backtrack due to opposition from local politicians and workers at Gresik’s unit PT Semen Padang in West Sumatra.
’They told us... that they plan to sell the stake and we said please go ahead. I hope the stake is sold to local investors, but it does not matter if they sell to foreign investors,’ Bakrie told a press briefing.
He said the government will continue to act as a facilitator between Cemex and potential buyers.
