Garibaldi Thohir Teams Up With Northstar to Buy Hutchison 3 Indonesia
(The Insider Stories) -
Garibaldi Thohir, an Indonesian tycoon, joined hands with a US-based private equity fund has acquired 35 percent stake in PT Hutchison 3 Indonesia, a local mobile phone operator of Hong Kong’s Hutchison Whampoa Group.
Mr Thohir and partner, Northstar Pacific – part of U.S. private equity company TPG – purchased the entire stake of Charoen Pokphand Group Indonesia’s stake in Hutchison 3 Indonesia.
“We replaced the previous partner. Probably, because they need a local partner, they chosed us,” Mr Thohir told The Insider Stories on Wednesday in Jakarta.
He declined to reveal the value of the acquisition.
Mr Thohir said the stake purchase was completed in the second half of last year.
The stake sale marks the exit of the Thai conglomerate from the Indonesian mobile phone operator.
In July 2005, Charoen Group had sold its 65 percent holding in the Indonesian company to Hutchison Telecom, part of the Hutchison Whampoa group.
Hutchison now controls the remaining 65 percent stake in Hutchison 3 Indonesia, which offers telecommunication service under the flag of 3.
Thohir spoke to The Insider Stories on the sideline of a signing ceremony for an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract on Wednesday for an ammonia plant of a company he owns, PT Panca Amara Utama.
Bhuwan Kulshreshtha, Chief Commercial Officer at Hutchison 3 confirmed the stake purchase.
“Yes, the Thohir Group buy 35 % Hutchison at the second half last year,” he said.
Mr Thohir, ranked number 28th according to the richest list of Indonesians published by Forbes Indonesia, is currently the president director of top coal miner PT Adaro Energy (ADRO) and another PT Surya Esa Perkasa (ESSA), which runs the second biggest privately owned liquified petroleum gas refinery in the archipelago nation.
The businessman worth $1.05 billion, according to Forbes Indonesia’s November edition, also owns a number of other companies, including automotive financier WOM Finance (WOMF).
Several sources familiar with the deal said Mr Thohir teamed up with Patrick Walujo, who controls private equity firm Northstar Pacific Group.
Northstar has made a number of strategic acquisitions.
Advance Wealth Finance Ltd, a subsidiary of Northstar Equity Partners III Ltd, recently purchased a 49 percent stake in Jakarta-listed securities company PT Trimegah Securities (TRIM).
Hutchison 3 Indonesia now controls around 10 percent market share in Indonesia’s mobile phone market with around 21 million subscribers. The company previously said that it aimed to increase its market share to 13 percent this year. (LS)
