Huawei Acquires 16% Stake in Bakrie Telecom

The Indonesian unit of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei has secured 16.83 percent of local operator Bakrie Telecom through bond conversion, The Jakarta Post reports, citing Bakrie Telecom president commissioner Anindya Novyan Bakrie. The company representative said the conversion would help improve Bakrie Telecom’s financial status as it had converted IDR 1.23 trillion (approximately USD 92.05 million) debt into shares.

Back in 2016, Bakrie Telecom issued an IDR 7.6 trillion mandatory convertible bond to restructure its IDR 11.6 trillion debt. "The mandatory convertible bond actually has a long tenor, but Huawei chose to convert it into shares. We welcome the decision", Anindya said.

Huawei Tech Investment can now place representatives on Bakrie Telecom’s board of directors or commissioners. "They may place representatives. It will be decided at the next shareholders meeting, but there has been no talk about it yet", Anindya added.