Indonesian Billionaire's Chandra Asri Expands In Singapore With Chevron Phillips Deal
Storage tanks at the Shell refinery on Pulau Bukom in Singapore on Wednesday, 25 August 2021.
A joint venture backed by Indonesian billionaire Prajogo Pangestu's Chandra Asri and commodities trader Glencore is expanding its presence in Singapore, with the acquisition of Chevron Phillips' polyethylene manufacturing operations.
Under the deal, Aster Chemicals and Energy will buy Chevron Phillips Singapore Chemicals' manufacturing facility, which annually produces 400,000 tons of high-density polyethylene that's used to make plastic bottles and food containers, the company said in a statement. The sale was approved by Chevron Phillips and its partners including EDB Investments and Sumitomo Chemical Co. Financial details weren't disclosed.
'This acquisition represents a key achievement for Aster, supporting our strategic goals with new capabilities and strengthening our offerings to customers,' Erwin Ciputra, group CEO of Aster said in the statement.
The deal comes a month after another Chandra Asri and Glencore joint venture completed the acquisition of Shell's refinery and petrochemical assets in Singapore. The latest acquisition bolsters group's position in the Southeast Asian petrochemical hub where it also operates a refinery capable of producing 237,000 barrels of oil per day, an ethylene cracker on Pulau Bukom as well as a petrochemical plant on Jurong Island.
Jakarta-listed Chandra Asri is part of Barito Pacific, a company originally focused on timber that tycoon Prajogo Pangestu transformed into a major player in energy and petrochemicals. With a real-time net worth of $19.8 billion, Pangestu ranks among Indonesia's wealthiest individuals. He also holds stakes in Petrindo Jaya Kreasi, a coal mining firm, and Barito Renewables—both of which went public in 2023.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Wall Street Journal
an hour ago
- Wall Street Journal
Asian Currencies Consolidate Amid Mild Risk Appetite
0038 GMT — Asian currencies consolidate against the dollar in early trade amid mild appetite for risky assets. The main theme has been risk-on, Commerzbank Research analysts say in a research report. The U.S. employment report released Friday was better than expected, they note. Even though U.S. employment growth continued to slow in May, the data still pointed to resilience in the labor market. USD/KRW edges 0.2% higher to 1,361.46, USD/SGD is little changed at 1.2887, and AUD/USD is up 0.1% at 0.6501, FactSet data show. (
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Top Stock Market Highlights of the Week: City Developments Limited, GlobalFoundries and Mapletree Investments
Welcome to this week's edition of top stock market highlights. City Developments Limited, or CDL, and IOI Properties Group Berhad (KLSE: 5249) announced a share sale agreement for their joint venture South Beach mixed-use development. Under this agreement, IOI will acquire CDL's 50.1% stake in South Beach based on an agreed property value of S$2.75 billion. This value is a 3% premium over South Beach's latest valuation of S$2.67 billion as of 31 December 2024. Based on CDL's share, the sales consideration amounts to S$834.2 million. Both CDL and IOI have been joint venture partners in South Beach since 2011. The property comprises Grade A office space, a 634-room hotel, restaurants, cafes, and South Beach Residences, which consist of 190 luxury apartments and penthouses. CDL expects that the disposal will result in a gain of approximately S$465 million when the transaction is completed by the third quarter of this year. The blue-chip property group believes that this divestment represents a strategic opportunity to unlock value from South Beach and will provide it with enhanced financial flexibility to redeploy the proceeds. The sale also allows CDL to crystallise gains in the property, and proceeds will be used to reduce borrowings to improve its net gearing ratio. The cash can also be used for new acquisitions, investing in new development projects, or to optimise its capital management. Such divestments remain a key pillar of CDL's strategy and involve capital recycling activities that promise to unlock value for its shareholders. GlobalFoundries is the latest company to announce plans to spend money to bolster its US production. The Malta-based company manufactures essential chips for semiconductors and electronics makers that handle vital but mundane tasks such as controlling power and managing the flow of data inside devices. The artificial intelligence (AI) boom increased demand for a variety of chips, boosting the need for power-efficient chips used in data centres and communication equipment. GlobalFoundries, which is majority-owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, will commit US$13 billion to expand its existing plants in New York and Vermont. The company will also make a US$3 billion spending commitment to research into advanced packaging and other technologies in the US. However, CEO Tim Breen did not give a specific timeline on when this amount will be spent, citing the company's need to be flexible in managing the supply-demand balance. The investment is driven by higher demand from chip customers who are seeking more local production in an attempt to reduce reliance on suppliers that are concentrated in just one location. This diversification is a direct effect of Trump's tariff announcement as companies seek to rejig or re-adjust their supply chains to avoid paying higher taxes. Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd, or MIPL, reported a strong turnaround for its fiscal 2025 (FY2025) ending 31 March 2025. The investment firm announced a net profit of S$227.2 million, reversing the net loss of S$577.2 million in FY2024, largely due to revaluation losses. Recurring net profit, however, fell by close to 11% year on year to S$637.4 million. MIPL's FY2025 revenue stood at S$2.2 billion, lower than the prior year's S$2.8 billion, because of the deconsolidation of Mapletree Logistics Trust (SGX: M44U). Despite the lower core net profit, the investment company's assets under management (AUM) grew from S$77.5 billion to end FY2025 at S$80.3 billion. The increase was due to a larger number of acquisitions and development projects. The company acquired Derby DC1 and Verda Park in the UK, marking its first foray into the country. MIPL also purchased a portfolio of 10 logistics assets in Spain. Meanwhile, the firm is also marketing its Mapletree Emerging Growth Asia Logistics Development Fund, which focuses on Malaysia, India, and Vietnam. This fund, which is targeted to close this year, will comprise development assets with AUM of up to US$1.8 billion. MIPL is also the fourth-largest student housing owner in the UK, rising from seventh place last year. The group owns 30,000 student beds in the UK and the US. Another area of growth is data centres, with MIPL set to complete the construction of its first data centre development in Hong Kong in the second half of this year. It is also exploring acquisition opportunities in locations such as London, Milan, Madrid, Japan, and South Korea. As it builds up its data centre portfolio, there is a chance that these assets could be injected into Mapletree Industrial Trust (SGX: ME8U), another REIT that MIPL sponsors. We've found 5 SGX-listed dividend stocks with strong track records in turbulent markets. If you want consistency in an uncertain world, start here. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Telegram for the latest investing news and analyses! Disclosure: Royston Yang owns shares of Mapletree Industrial Trust. The post Top Stock Market Highlights of the Week: City Developments Limited, GlobalFoundries and Mapletree Investments appeared first on The Smart Investor.
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Yahoo
Salesforce Beat Out IBM for $8 Billion Informatica Deal
International Business Machines (IBM, Financials) was among the bidders for Informatica (INFA, Financials) prior to the $8 billion acquisition by Salesforce (CRM, Financials), people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. Though IBM ultimately did not close the deal, its involvement highlights the competitive bidding process for the cloud data management firm. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 5 Warning Sign with MSFT. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff confirmed the competition in a recent interview, saying, We were lucky to be the winning bid. Informatica shares were little changed at $24.13 on Wednesday, while IBM rose 0.1% to $265.52, with a market cap near $247 billion. IBM's interest in Informatica aligns with its multiyear strategy to expand software and hybrid cloud offerings through acquisitions. The company previously acquired Red Hat for $34 billion in 2019, Apptio for $4.6 billion in 2023, and HashiCorp for $6.4 billion earlier this year. Informatica had also attracted interest from Cloud Software Group, Bloomberg previously reported. The deal solidifies Salesforce's data integration push as rivals compete more aggressively in enterprise software. This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
