April 23, 2007

Indonesia's CP Prima to acquire shrimp company

Indonesia's largest shrimp producer, PT Central Proteinaprima (CP Prima) is said to be interested in taking over ailing shrimp farming company PT Dipasena Citra Darmaja, Indonesian newspaper Investor Daily said.

Dipasena is one of the assets to be divested by state-owned asset management company PT Perusahaan Pengelola Aset (PPA), the newspaper reported.

The combination of CP Prima, a large shrimp farming company with Dipasena, which has shrimp ponds in Lampung, would create the world's largest shrimp producer. Lampung province is a major shrimp producing region in Indonesia.

The government took over Dipasena due to a large debt of its parent company the Gajah Tunggal Group during the 1997/1998 financial crisis in the country.

CP Prima, last year acquired US shrimp broodstock company Shrimp Improvement Systems, one of the world's largest broodstock company. CP Prima, or CPP, the largest shrimp producer in Indonesia, enjoyed sales of more than US$500 million last year.

The company secured US$200 million in loans from local and foreign banks in February this year and launched its IPO in June last year.