INDONESIA'S INDOSAT MIGHT NOT SELL SHARES IN MGTI TO PT TELKOM.

JAKARTA, May 1 Asia Pulse - PT Indosat (JSX:ISAT) might not sell its 30 per cent stake in Mitra Global Telekomunikasi Indonesia (MGTI) to the Indonesian state telecommunications company PT Telkom (JSX:TLKM).

According to Indosat president director Widya Purnama, there is another bidder which has made a higher bid than Telkom.

"Telkom's bid does not meet our expectation," Republika daily newspaper quoted Widya as saying on the sidelines of a seminar entitled "Cellular Communication: Opportunity for All".

Widya admitted that the negotiation process between Indosat and Telkom for the sale of his company's 30 per cent stake in MGTI has been tough.

He said both parties have been inflexible. Then, another potential investor pops up, making a better bid, which Indosat finds more reasonable.

"Besides Telkom, there is another (interested) investor from Asia, a company in Hong Kong. It is a fund corporation, not a telecommunications establishment," he said.

He said the negotiation process between Indosat and the new bidder has reached the non-bidding stage. Although the negotiation has not been binding, both parties have agreed on the price in principle, he said.