Indonesian consortium to invest in affiliate of insurer Bumiputera

[JAKARTA] A consortium led by businessman Erick Thohir, the president of soccer club Inter Milan, will invest two trillion rupiah (S$215.79 million) in an affiliate of troubled Indonesian life insurance firm Bumiputera, a statutory manager said.

Indonesian authorities have been seeking to shore up the century-old Indonesian Asuransi Jiwa Bersama Bumiputera 1912 (Bumiputera), without taxpayer money, by using strategic investors and a backdoor listing.

Mr Thohir's consortium will invest in an affiliate that will sell new insurance products, while Bumiputera will continue serving existing policyholders until their claims come due, according to a statement from Bumiputera and the statutory manager.

"This way, there will be enough cash for Bumiputera to fulfil its liabilities due to mature in 2017, and in the coming years due to the movement of funds as a result of investment," said Didi Achdijat, a statutory manager of Bumiputera.

Mr Thohir could not immediately be reached for comment.

Despite being under restructuring by Indonesia's Financial Services Authority (OJK) since 2013, Bumiputera still has liabilities of around 20 trillion rupiah, compared with assets of 13-14 trillion rupiah, Adhie Massardi, another of its statutory managers, told Reuters last week.

Plans to save Bumiputera, which has 6.7 million policyholders, include a backdoor listing through Jakarta-listed textile material trader PT Evergreen Invesco Tbk.

Evergreen had planned to conduct a rights issue of 30 trillion rupiah to acquire a holding company set up by Bumiputera. It then lifted the issuance size to 40 trillion rupiah before cutting it this month to 10.3 trillion rupiah.

Originally slated for the end of 2016, the rights issue has been delayed until next year.

Mr Achdijat said Mr Thohir's investment should mean "we don't have to depend on Evergreen's rights issue plan".

REUTERS