PLN says it received request from ministry to buy Inalum shares

A director of state electricity company PT PLN says that the company has received instructions from the government to purchase a stake in aluminium producer PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Inalum).
A contract signed in 1976 and due to end in 2013 gave a consortium of Japanese companies, Nippon Asahan Aluminium Co Ltd (NAA), a 58.8 percent stake in Inalum and the remainder to the Indonesian government.
Once the current contract with NAA expires, the government plans to take over Inalum, rather than renew its contract.
PLN received a letter from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry requesting that it acquire the stake, PLN business and risk management director Murtaqi Syamsuddin said Monday, as reported by kontan.co.id.
Previously, state mining company PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (ANTM) president director Alwin Syah Loebis had said his company was ready to purchase the stake.
However, ANTM’s company secretary Bimo Budi Satrio declined to comment on the option of a joint venture with PLN.
“We are still waiting for [orders from] government,” he said.
The government needs around US$700 million to purchase the NAA stake.

Reference: The Jakarta Post in Business