Milbank LLP advised PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (“BRI”) in connection with a rights issue consisting of up to 28,213,191,604 new Series B common shares which has raised IDR 95.9 trillion (approximately US$6.73 billion). The transaction marks the largest rights issue in Southeast Asia and on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (“IDX”) to date.
BRI is one of Indonesia’s largest banks by assets and specializes in micro finance as well as retail and corporate banking. It is majority owned by the Indonesian Government and its Series B common shares are listed on the IDX. The rights issue transaction consolidated several state-owned micro lending providers into an ultra-micro ecosystem, which will offer greater access to more affordable financing for the approximately 45 million micro and ultra-micro businesses that play a crucial role in supporting Indonesia's economy.
The Singapore-based Milbank team was led by Global Capital Markets Group partners Naomi Ishikawa and Giles Kennedy with special counsel Terrence O’Donnell and associates Steven Holm, Raashi Mukherji and Andre Seah. Support from New York was provided by Alternative Investments partner Catherine Leef Martin and Tax partner Andrew Walker and associates Megha Kalbag and Michael Rivkin.
“We are extremely proud to have advised BRI on this highly successful issuance which has the potential to help improve economic empowerment and increase income, community welfare and productivity in Indonesia,” said Ms. Ishikawa.
Milbank has recently been involved in a number of other capital markets issuances in Indonesia’s micro business and finance space, including the US$1.5 billion initial public offering of PT Bukalapak, an e-commerce marketplace designed to help the country’s millions of mom-and-pop kiosks remain competitive with modern retailers by selling goods online and offering additional online services, as well as the successful rights issuance for PT Bank Jago Tbk, an Indonesian digital banking company primarily serving the country’s small and medium enterprises segment that also aims to bring banking services to Indonesia’s unbanked population.
“The recent issuances by BRI, Bukalapak and Bank Jago indicate that we are at the start of an exciting chapter in Indonesia’s economic story as government initiatives to accelerate the growth of microlending are coming to fruition and, together with advances in Indonesia’s digital technology sector, are providing both finance and access to the country’s micro, small and medium enterprises and positioning them for future growth and opportunity,” said Mr. Kennedy.
