Thailand’s Siam Cement to buy 30 % of Indonesia’s PT Chandra Asri for $442 mn

Siam Cement PCL, Thailand's largest industrial conglomerate is buying a 30-per cent stake, a majority of it from Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek, in Indonesian petrochemical firm PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk (CAP) for around $442 million.

In making its biggest overseas acquisition, Siam Cement will gain an entry in the fast-growing petrochemical industry of Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

Siam's wholly-owned unit, SCG Chemicals Co Ltd, has signed agreements to acquire a 22.9-per cent stake from Apleton Investments, a unit of Temasek for $318 million and another 7.1 per cent  from PT Barito Pacific Tbk, the holding company of Indonesian tycoon Prajogo Pangestu, for about $99 million.

Siam Cement will buy the shares for 4,088 Indonesian rupiah each, representing a 1.6-per cent premium to Chandra Asri's 19 September closing price of 4,025 Indonesian rupiah.

Post sale, Siam Cement will hold a 30-per cent stake in CAP, while Barito will remain the controlling shareholder.

CAP is Indonesia's largest petrochemical maker, produces polyethylene, polypropylene, styrene monomer and various olefins products. It reported sales of $1.86 billion last year.

CAP's production facilities are located in Cilegon, a major coastal industrial city in the province of Banten, West Java, Indonesia.

Siam Cement, 30 per cent owned by the Thai royal family's Crown Property Bureau, is also eying Indonesia's Tanojo family controlled Sulfindo Adiusaha, a chemical producer, which is currently valued at around $700 million.