beyondbrics

The Bakrie family is bundling its television and online media outlets, including Indonesia’s most popular broadcaster, and listing them on the Jakarta stock exchange. It’s the latest business venture by the powerful family since taking their coal assets to London with the Rothschilds.

“We see tremendous growth in the advertising market and this will be the leading Indonesian media company,” Anindya Bakrie, president director, told beyondbrics. “Our net income has started to come online and revenue has been growing at 50 per cent.”

Viva, 7.5 per cent owned by Rupert Mudroch’s News Corp. , will seek to raise roughly $80m by placing 14.7 per cent of outstanding shares on the Jakarta stock exchange on July 1.

The Bakries will list an initial 2.29bn shares at up to 285 rupiah each, giving shareholders exposure to Viva’s flagship television channel, TVone, subsidiary station ANTV and news portal Vivanews. Book building begins next week.

The capital will reduce debt and boost capex, said Frederic de Bure, who leads Viva’s new media business. “We are very aggressive in that we aim to be market leader in our main three categories. We are very open to the buy model, not just the build model.”

Viva, which already reaches tens of millions of viewers,  intends to capture the largest audience for sports, news and entertainment content, increasingly via smart phones.

Indonesia’s media sector has been heating up, with advertising revenue reaching $4.3bn in 2010, recently spurred by political jostling ahead of 2014 presidential elections. Anindya Bakrie’s father, Aburizal Bakrie, is positioning his party for a run at the top job.

The Bakrie crown jewel, Indonesia’s largest coal mine Bumi Resources, has been merged with the fifth largest company, Berau Coal, and will soon be listed on the London stock exchange as Bumi plc, a resources vehicle founded by financier Nat Rothschild.

Nearly half of the IPOs in Indonesia this year have seen their shares fall 25 per cent or more, including the troubled listing of national airline Garuda. It will be interesting to see if Viva can sell the story to investors after making slightly more than $400,000 in net profit last year.

Related reading:
Hayward seeks to raise £1bn for venture, FT
After turbulent IPO, Garuda dives, beyondbrics
Energy-hungry emerging economies fuel regional mine expansions, FT
Bakrie chief eyes role in consolidation, FT
Will Belgian club play ball with billionaire Bakries? beyondbrics
Observers keep close eye on Bakrie’s moves, FT