JAKARTA, March 15 (Reuters) – Indonesian nickel company PT Trimegah Bangun Persada (TBP), a unit of the Harita conglomerate, is raising up to $647 million through an initial public offering (IPO), according to a term sheet seen by Reuters on Wednesday.
The IPO would be Southeast Asia’s biggest IPO so far this year, overtaking the listing of Indonesian state-backed Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGEO.JK) that raised 9.06 trillion rupiah ($590 million) last month.
Trimegah Bangun Persada, which is also known as Harita Nickel, is offering up to 8.1 billion shares at between 1,220 and 1,250 rupiah each, according to the term sheet.
At the top range, Harita Nickel would command a market value of $5.1 billion.
The company is starting to take IPO orders from Wednesday and will price the offering on March 24, the sheet shows. Harita Nickel will debut on the Indonesian stock exchange on April 12.
It plans to use the IPO proceeds for capital expenditure, repayment of outstanding loans and working capital, among others.
Earlier on Wednesday, the company’s prospectus showed the firm would raise up to 15.12 trillion rupiah ($982 million).
Bankers said the expanded size in the prospectus was based on the company’s initial IPO application but the actual deal launched on Wednesday was to raise up to $647 million.
The company mines nickel and operates processing facilities in Obi island in Indonesia’s eastern Maluku region.
Through its partnership with China’s Lygend Resources, TBP operates Indonesia’s first high pressure acid leach (HPAL) plant which extracts mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP), the nickel material used in batteries for electric vehicles.
BNP Paribas SA, Citigroup Inc, Credit Suisse Group AG and PT Mandiri Sekuritas are joint global coordinators of the IPO.
($1 = 15,380.0000 rupiah)
