Indonesian company PT Aryaputra Teguharta (APT) is seeking a suspension in the trading of PT BFI Finance Indonesia Tbk. (BFI) shares pending the outcome of its lawsuit claiming a 32.32 per cent stake in the finance firm.
BFI is backed by a consortium that includes TPG Capital and Northstar Group.
In an official statement, APT said it has written to the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX) today, warning that its legal actions could potentially have serious implications for BFI investors, and the exchange, for prudential reasons, should suspend trading in the counter pending the outcome of its case.
The company further pointed out that IDX has a duty to safeguard investors’ interests and protect the integrity of its trading system.
APT is a company controlled by Ongko Group, a business group led by Kaharuddin Ongko who owned BFI Finance Indonesia until the 1998 financial crisis.
The company maintains that it is the lawful owner of 111,804,732 BFI shares, or 32.32 per cent of BFI’s issued and paid-up capital, a claim affirmed by a February 2007 Supreme Court ruling.
Since 2007, APT, through its previous lawyers, had tried unsuccessfully to reclaim its BFI shares which it said had been transferred illegally by BFI.
The District Court of Central Jakarta (DCCJ) issued an order to confiscate APT’s shares from Chase Manhattan Bank in September 2007. However, the court bailiff found that APT’s shares were not held by the bank at that time, and the DCCJ subsequently declared in October 2007 that the shares recovery could not be executed as they had been transferred to third parties.
APT recently announced that it has renewed its legal battle after commenced action before the Jakarta State Administrative Court seeking an “interlocutory” or provisional judgement that would allow it to enforce its rights under the February 2007 Supreme Court ruling.
The renewal of the legal action comes around two months after news surfaced in March of an attempt by Trinugraha Capital & Co SCA, a consortium led by Indonesian tycoon Boy Thohir and including TPG Capital and Northstar Group, to sell shares in the Indonesian multi-finance company.
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