May 25, 2007

Indonesia's government sells shrimp farm assets To Neptune Consortium

Indonesia's government announced it has sold PT Dipasena, once one of the largest shrimp farms in the world, to Neptune Consortium.

The company was sold for IDR688.13 billion (US$78.7 million) through an open tender. PPA President Director Mochamad Syahrial said in a statement that the decision to sell the Dipasena assets to Indonesia-based Neptune consortium was based on the price and also Neptune's presentation on how it would manage Dipasena in the future.

The Neptune consortium is controlled by agribusiness company PT Charoen Pokphan Indonesia (CPIN.JK).

Earlier, CP Prima, a Indonesian company partially owned by Thai agri-business, along with other companies, were said to be interested in the acquisition. CP Prima is currently the top shrimp producer in the world.

Besides experience in the aquaculture business, the government also require bidders to put up US$200 million to invest in Dipasena. Dipasena operates 180,000 hectares of shrimp farms in Indonesia and ownership was transferred to the government during the nation's financial crisis in the late 1990s.