[JAKARTA] Indonesian sovereign wealth fund Danantara is seeking a multicurrency borrowing of as much as US$10 billion, in what could be South-east Asia’s largest loan, according to people familiar with the matter.
Danantara, formally known as Daya Anagata Nusantara, sent a request for proposals to regional and international banks for a loan with tenors of around three to five years, the people said, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. Lenders have been asked to provide underwritten commitments and proposals on an uncommitted basis, they added.
The loan will be unsecured and will not carry any guarantee nor come with letters of comfort or support from the government, the people said, adding that proceeds will be for general corporate purposes.
Danantara did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The fund, which reports directly to President Prabowo Subianto, is a core component of the president’s vision to propel South-east Asia’s largest economy to 8 per cent growth during his presidency. With Indonesian state-owned enterprises under its supervision – including some of the nation’s largest banks, oil and gas giant PT Pertamina and the holding company for the government’s mining interests – executives have suggested the fund will have more than US$1 trillion in assets.
However, many of the details about how Danantara will operate are “understandably” still unclear given its infancy, making it tricky to discern both the risks and the upsides, said Nicolas Painvin, global head of international public finance at Fitch Ratings in an interview with Bloomberg News in May.
Earlier this month, Danantara’s managing director Arief Budiman said that the sovereign wealth fund plans to invest in projects from eight sectors, including renewables, digital infrastructure and healthcare.
The largest Indonesian loan was from the government itself, which raised a 3 billion euros (S$4.5 billion) facility in September 2023, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. The biggest borrowing from South-east Asia is a US$9.75 billion bridge loan that had backed a Singapore consortium’s acquisition of soft drinks producer Fraser & Neave in November 2012, the data showed.
The International Financing Review, or IFR, first reported on Danantara’s loan. BLOOMBERG
