Singapore, 8 February 2017 – OCBC Bank’s wholly-owned subsidiary in Indonesia, OCBC Sekuritas, has completed the sale of a stake in Indonesia’s longest toll road for IDR2.57 trillion (S$272.4 million) late last month. The transaction is the largest merger and acquisition (M&A) deal that an Asian bank has advised on in Indonesia and ranks among the 10 largest M&A deals in Indonesia overall since the beginning of 2016.

OCBC Sekuritas was the exclusive financial adviser to a consortium of four sellers, led by prominent Indonesian private equity fund Saratoga Capital. The combined 22.3% stake in the Cikopo-Palimanan Toll Road was sold to Astratel Nusantara, a subsidiary of Indonesian conglomerate Astra International. At IDR2.57 trillion, the transaction valued the stake in the toll road at over three times book value – almost double the average valuation achieved by other transactions in the infrastructure sector in Indonesia in recent years.

The deal was completed in just over a year despite the complexities it presented. The four consortium members held varying stakes that took the form of a mix of shares, debt instruments and convertible mezzanine loans. To optimise valuations for the various stakes, OCBC Sekuritas identified and evaluated more than 60 potential buyers – including investment funds and other toll road operators - across Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

OCBC Sekuritas won the M&A mandate – its first infrastructure-related investment banking mandate – and began the sale process in October 2015, less than six months after its official opening. The deal reflects OCBC Bank’s intensifying efforts to capture business opportunities associated with economic growth and infrastructural development in Indonesia.

Mr Gan Kok Kim, OCBC Bank’s Head of Global Investment Banking, said: "We see tremendous promise in Indonesia’s growth prospects. Indonesia is poised to be one of the fastest-growing economies in the world and its infrastructure drive will be one of the key themes in its growth story over the next decade and beyond.

"We were able to successfully execute this complex deal in a relatively short time because we have the advantage of on-the-ground presence and the support of our broader OCBC network. I’m confident that with our geographical coverage, our local know-how and the expertise we have developed, we are well placed to advise on the mounting financing needs in this market."

Indonesia is a core market that OCBC Bank has earmarked for continued growth and expansion. OCBC Bank is present in Indonesia through its two subsidiaries OCBC Sekuritas and Bank OCBC NISP, which offers commercial banking services at its 340 branches. OCBC Sekuritas is equipped with both a stockbroking licence and an underwriter licence, enabling it to provide securities trading services as well as onshore debt and equity financing solutions in Indonesia.

About the Cikopo-Palimanan Toll Road

The 116.5-kilometre Cikopo-Palimanan Toll Road, better known as the Cipali Toll Road, is a crucial link in the Trans-Java Toll Road network, which connects Jakarta to the major industrial and agricultural regions in Java, Indonesia’s most heavily populated island.

Traveling parallel to Java’s northern coastline, the Cipali Toll Road runs from the industrial node of Cikampek, which lies about 90km east of Jakarta, to the town of Palimanan further to its east.

As the country’s longest toll road, it stands as one of the crown jewels of Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s ambitious infrastructure push. Having begun operations in June 2015 after an official opening ceremony attended by President Jokowi, the highway is currently operating under a 35-year concession period awarded by the Indonesian government in 2006.

Capitalising on Indonesia’s economic growth and infrastructure push

Amid concerns of slowing growth across Asia, Indonesia stood out as one of the region’s more resilient economies in 2016, registering GDP growth of close to or exceeding 5% in each quarter last year.

President Jokowi has set in motion a massive infrastructure push, including the targeted construction of more than 3,000 kilometres of highways, 2,000 kilometres of roads and 24 ports by 2019. The Indonesian Ministry of Finance has estimated that these infrastructure projects will require about US$400 billion (S$567.29 billion) in funding. According to the Indonesian Ministry of Finance’s estimates, funding from the government and state-owned enterprises would account for about US$253 billion (S$358.81 billion) of this amount, leaving a shortfall of about US$145 billion (S$205.64 billion) that will need to be plugged by the private sector.