SINGAPORE-LISTED United Fiber System (Unifiber) said yesterday that it had lined up the necessary funding to acquire Indonesian pulp mill PT Kiani Kertas and for refinancing company creditors, including Bank Mandiri.

　　In a statement issued after the market closed, Unifiber noted that Kingsclere Finance, the vehicle set up to acquire Kiani Kertas, had signed an exclusive sale and purchase agreement with shareholders of the Indonesian pulp mill company to acquire all issued and outstanding share capital.

　　Unifiber added that it was in an advanced stage of negotiations with Kingsclere for the transfer of the agreement to Unifiber. Unifiber has requested lifting of its share trading halt today.

　　'This funding will provide UFS with a solid financial capacity to acquire PT Kiani Kertas as well as addressing the rights and interests of its creditors,' Unifiber chief executive Kishore Dass said.

　　The statement did not provide details as to the source of the funding. Mr Dass told BT on Wednesday Deutsche Bank remained its financial adviser.

　　In the statement, he reiterated that Unifiber was still pursuing the acquisition of PT Kiani Kertas in spite of all its complications because the facility would give Unifiber an operationally ready pulp mill and a new revenue stream.

　　'The acquisition will provide us a platform to realise our vision of becoming a world-class market pulp player in this region,' Mr Dass said.

　　He said Kingsclere had informed Unifiber that Kingsclere and PT Kiani Kertas's shareholders were actively involved in ongoing discussions with creditors, including Bank Mandiri.

　　Ekoputro Adijayanto, Bank Mandiri's corporate secretary, however, told BT that the bank had not received a formal proposal from Unifiber.

　　'We have the right to study the proposal if UFS submits it to us,' he said. 'For Bank Mandiri we need to know the source of the funding and Unifiber's commitment to the transaction,' he added.

　　Mr Ekoputro added that the Sampoerna family had already deposited US$300 million with Bank Mandiri as a sign of its commitment to repay Kiani's US$201 million debt to the bank upfront and inject new capital into the company.

　　'The Sampoerna proposal is really aggressive,'' he said. 'As the major creditor to Kiani Kertas, we have the right to decide which investor takes over the company.'

《The Business Times》