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     T R O U B L E D   C O M P A N Y   R E P O R T E R

                           A S I A   P A C I F I C

              Friday, March 24, 2000, Vol. 3, No. 59

                                    Headlines


* A U S T R A L I A *

BOND CORPORATION: Bond under scrutiny on transactions
BOND CORP.: Missing Bond art treasures stored in London
PAULINE HANSON: Faces bankruptcy
SIDDONS RAMSET LTD.: Major shareholders to nix ITW offer
SIDDONS RAMSET: US suitor stands firm


* C H I N A  &  H O N G  K O N G *

SIU-FUNG CERAMICS HOLDINGS: Posts $1.58B two-year loss


* I N D O N E S I A *

PT ASTRA INT'L:Investors to file sealed bids for IBRA stake
PT BAKRIE & BROS.: Creditors offered 95% in debt swap
PT BANK BALI: Major shareholder sells part of stake
PT DATAKOM ASIA: Objects to share reduction, dilution
PT TEXMACO GROUP: Gov't mulling taking over company


* J A P A N *

MITSUBISHI MOTORS: To bow to Daimler alliance
PENTA-OCEAN CONSTRUC.: Share price treads water, loss ahead
RAITO KOGYO: To cover 3.6B Yen pension underfunding


* K O R E A *

CHO HUNG BANK: Issues subordinated debt of $400 mil.
DAEWOO GROUP: CRCC to hold debt negotiations
DAEWOO MOTORS: Parts makers opposed to foreign control  
KOHAP CORP.: Promoting sale of W250B in securities
SAMSUNG MOTORS: Creditors to make final offer to Renault
SEOUL BANK: President orders gov't to sell its stakes  
SEOUL BANK: Gov't offers management to Deutsches Bank


* M A L A Y S I A *

NALURI BHD: Tajudin's MAS stake to be diluted in debt rehab
SPORTMA CORP BHD: Debt revamp proposed for Sportma


* P H I L I P P I N E S *

TRANSFARM & CO.INC.: Daewoo nixes RP assembly plant plan
UNIWIDE GROUP: 12 creditor banks okay rehabilitation plan
VICTORIAS MILLING CO.: Overseer shifts to Plan B


* S I N G A P O R E *

CLOB INT'L: Effective set to clinch 90% Clob acceptance


* T H A I L A N D *

BANGCHAK PETROLEUM: Public offering plan approved
SIAM CHEMICALS: Formally delisted from Thai bourse
THAI TEL.AND TEL.: Alcatel offers $25M credit facility
TIPCO ASPHALT: Approval sought for debenture offering


=================
A U S T R A L I A
=================

BOND CORPORATION: Bond under scrutiny on transactions
-----------------------------------------------------
Australian Federal Police are set to turn the spotlight
again on disgraced businessman Alan Bond after it was
revealed that Bond Corporation's liquidator had uncovered
two alleged money-laundering transactions.

The AFP said yesterday that officers would interview the
liquidator, the Adelaide accountant, Mr Richard England, to
determine whether there was sufficient evidence to re-
ignite the investigation into Mr Bond.  This came after it
was reported yesterday that a statement of claim by Mr
England to the South Australian Supreme Court alleged that
some of Mr Bond's offshore fortune had been channelled back
into Australia in 1995.

The money allegedly came from companies in Vaduz controlled
by Mr Bond's Swiss banker, Mr Jurg Bollag. It was
channelled through a complex network of companies and
international bank accounts before landing in Brisbane.
An AFP spokesman said yesterday the long-running police
hunt for Mr Bond's overseas interests had been dormant
since October 1998.

The AFP set up Operation Oxide in 1993 to determine whether
the then bankrupt Mr Bond had concealed millions of dollars
in Switzerland. Bank documents indicated he had a hidden
fortune but Mr Bollag refused to give evidence to police.
Operation Oxide was shelved after five years and most of
the officers involved in the original investigation have
since left the AFP. But the AFP spokesman said yesterday
the case was not closed. Federal officers were now
arranging to travel to Adelaide.

"We will be having discussions with the liquidator to
establish whether the material reported in the paper is in
fact new and relevant to our investigation," he said. "It
is sensible for us to follow up reports such as this and to
see what is available. It is a complex matter and I would
not like to indicate whether this is a significant move or
not."

Mr Robert Ramsay, the man who pursued Alan Bond's wealth
through much of the 1990s, said yesterday the Federal
Government had the power to pursue claims Mr Bond had
returned part of an offshore fortune to Australia.

Mr Ramsay, who was Mr Bond's trustee in bankruptcy until
1995, pointed to the Government's powers under bankruptcy
laws to finance new court cases on behalf of creditors. Mr
Ramsay stressed that any court case would be a long shot
given Mr Bond's formidable legal resources, but noted that
federal officers could still act to enforce bankruptcy laws
even if Mr Bond's creditors did not want to spend any more
money in the courts.

"The release from bankruptcy (in 1995) was conditional on
the representation that Bond had made full disclosure," he
said. "I believed it would provide comfort to creditors
that if something was discovered we could go back to the
court." (The Age  23-March-2000)

BOND CORP.: Missing Bond art treasures stored in London
-------------------------------------------------------
One of the art world's biggest mysteries - the whereabouts
of two famous paintings at the centre of investigations
into Alan Bond's missing millions - has been solved.

John Webber's 1782 portrait of Captain James Cook, a
painting of national heritage significance, is in secret
storage in a London warehouse, along with Chazal's portrait
of Captain Matthew Flinders.  The location of the Captain
Cook painting - which was insured for$3.5 million in 1988 -
has been one of the art world's biggest mysteries for most
of the past decade.

The artwork was among 13 Bond Corp paintings and a
sculpture sold in 1989 through a Fremantle art gallery.
Bond Corp liquidator Mr Richard England claims the sale was
a "sham" deal in which artwork worth more than$6 million
was sold for less than $1 million to offshore companies
controlled by Swiss financier Mr Jurg Bollag and Bond's
son, Mr Craig Bond.

The whereabouts of the portraits was revealed in documents
that had been subject to confidentiality orders since May
1996 which were released by the South Australian Supreme
Court.  The documents, obtained this week by The Australian
Financial Review, show the paintings are in a high-security
London storage facility operated by Christie's Fine Art
Security Services Ltd at Vauxhall.  They have been there
for almost five years and have been under the control of Mr
England since May 1996.

And in fresh court documents filed by Mr England, the
liquidator has detailed an international money chain
through which he alleges Mr Bollag routed from
Liechtenstein to Perth the sale proceeds from some of the
Bond Corp paintings sold in the 1989 Fremantle deal.
Those fresh allegations are contained in Mr England's
amended statement of claim in his $13 million civil claim
against Alan Bond, sons Craig and John and others all of
whom are vigorously defending the action.

Alan Bond told The Australian Financial Review yesterday he
couldn't comment on Mr England's latest allegations.
"Because of the nature of the court proceedings, the
family's just not in a position to comment at this time,"
he said.

The lifting of confidentiality orders has revealed for the
first time that Mr England sought secret court orders in
May 1996 to secure effective title over the Captain Cook
and Matthew Flinders. He sought the orders after learning
the two paintings had been stored at Christie's in 1995 by
SHC International - a company registered in the Bahamas
that the liquidator alleges was controlled by Mr Craig
Bond.

Mr England secured court injunctions in England and
Australia restraining Christie's from dealing in the two
paintings, or taking further instructions from their
purported owner, SHC International. It is understood Mr
England's lawyers travelled to the Bahamas to examine SHC
nominee director Ms Nancy Lake and its corporate agent, Mr
Howard Lawrence, as part of the liquidator's
investigations.

Those injunctions, which remain in place, gagged Christie's
from disclosing the contents, or existence of, the court
orders. Those constraints may have contributed to
inaccurate media reports that the Captain Cook was seized
in 1996 by Australian Federal Police searching for assets
Bond had failed to disclose to his bankruptcy creditors.

The court orders also compelled Christie's to hand over to
the liquidator's UK solicitors all correspondence,
invoices, valuations and instructions received from SHC in
relation to the Captain Cook and Matthew Flinders.  Mr
England claims SHC first arranged for the two paintings to
be stored at Christie's in April 1995 as attempts were made
to sell them.

During the previous two years, Mr England claims, Mr
Bollag, through Transit Trading, had been the mystery
vendor trying to sell the Captain Cook to the National
Gallery in Canberra for $1.6 million through English art
agent Lady Angela Nevill. The negotiations reached an
advanced stage but stalled when Lady Nevill could not
provide the gallery with clear proof of title.

In his statement of claim, Mr England said that between
March 1992 and July 1995, Mr Bollag had succeeded in
disposing of six of the other former Bond Corp paintings
involved in the 1989 Fremantle deal. The liquidator has
been unable to account for the other six paintings.

He claimed $US600,000 of those sale proceeds received by Mr
Bollag were rerouted back to Bond family companies in Perth
in a series of transfers beginning in October 1995, when Mr
Bollag is alleged to have arranged for that amount to be
transferred from a bank account in Liechtenstein to SHC's
account in Jersey.

Mr England claims that at Craig Bond's instruction, the
funds were then directed from Jersey through a bank account
in Texas operated by US-registered Dampier Inc, and from
there into a Brisbane ANZ account operated by Carindale
Land Corp.  Finally, he alleged the funds were transferred
from Carindale to a Perth BankWest account operated by the
Bond family's Hastings Finance Ltd.

In a defence filing in the Supreme Court, Mr John Bond
admitted he signed the two Carindale cheques in favour of
Hastings Finance, which he said was entitled to management
fees and profits from a Brisbane land deal. (Australian
Financial Review  23-March-2000)

PAULINE HANSON: Faces bankruptcy
--------------------------------
Former One Nation leader Pauline Hanson faces personal
bankruptcy and losing her home because she can't repay
$502,000 of electoral funding provided to the fraudulently
registered One Nation Party.

Hanson said she had pleaded for help from supporters but
their contributions would not be nearly enough.  She said
she was resigned to selling her home, although that would
not cover the debt to the Australian Electoral Commission
or her own legal costs.

"I don't want to. I love my home. But the fact is that if I
do not sell it, it could be repossessed. It could be sold,"
she said on ABC radio.

Hanson said that $375,000 of the AEC funding went to One
Nation candidates while the cost of fighting the election
ran to $130,000.  She said membership contributions stayed
with branches and did not go to the head office. Former
Queensland One Nation MP Shaun Nelson, now an independent,
had little sympathy.

"She can afford a $700,000 mansion just outside of
Rosewood," he said on ABC radio.  "The people up here that
she is asking to give money are pensioners and farmers that
are doing it tough."  (The Age  23-March-2000)

SIDDONS RAMSET LTD.: Major shareholders to nix ITW offer
--------------------------------------------------------
Siddons Ramset Ltd today said five of its major
shareholders did not intend to accept Illinois Tool Work
Inc's takeover offer before the March 31 deadline.

ITW has said it will raise its offer to $6.30 per share,
from $5.95 per share, if it gains acceptances for 50.1 per
cent of Siddons shares by that date.  Siddons said five of
its major shareholders had confirmed they did not intend to
accept ITW's conditional revised offer by March 31.

In a letter to shareholders, Siddons chairman Ron Turner
said the five major shareholders held in excess of 40 per
cent of Siddons shares.  Mr Turner said ITW's offer
remained highly conditional. He said ITW would increase its
cash payment to $5.68 per share only if it received
acceptances entitling it to 50.1 per cent of Siddons shares
by March 31, and the offer was subject to the condition
that ITW must secure acceptances for 90 per cent of shares
by the April 11 closing date.

"Your directors consider that these conditions are unlikely
to be satisfied," Mr Turner said.

Mr Turner said ITW had announced that the special and
interim dividends received by accepting shareholders would
be deducted from ITW's offer price.

"This means that under ITW's conditional revised offer,
accepting shareholders would receive a cash payment from
ITW of $5.68 per share," he said.

Mr Turner reiterated that the directors believed Siddons
was poised for growth.  He said the company had a world
class brand name with proven distribution channels, capable
of linking Asian and Australasian suppliers to builders and
hardware stores throughout Australasia.

"This means Siddons Ramset is well positioned to take
advantage of the emergence of e-commerce," he said.

Mr Turner said Siddons' strategy included revenue growth
via e-commerce links to new international distributors and
on-line links to customers around the world.  The company
would also be capitalising on its compliance with US and
European product safety requirements to expand further into
the large markets for powder actuated tools in North
America, Europe and Asia.  It would also focus on supply
chain re-engineering via better linkages between
purchasing, warehousing and distribution and order
fulfilment.

"From this platform, Siddons Ramset is well positioned to
become one of the 'clicks and mortar' companies now being
sought by investors, who are recognising that companies
with world class brands and good distribution channels are
best placed to take advantage of the emergence of e-
commerce," Mr Turner said.  

"ITW hopes to pick up this potential cheaply," he said.
"A cash payment from ITW of $5.68 per share represents a
multiple of only 13.7 times our forecast earnings for this
financial year (before abnormal items and after adjusting
for the annualised funding cost of the special dividend.
By comparison, ITW is currently trading at 20.8 times its
1999 earnings (excluding merger related costs).  Siddons
Ramset is clearly worth more."

Mr Turner said ITW had only received acceptances for less
than five per cent of Siddons shares to date.  "Your
directors continue to recommend that you reject the
inadequate ITW offer," Mr Turner told shareholders.

Siddons shares were three cents lower at $5.55 at 1454
AEDT. (Australian Financial Review  23-March-2000)

SIDDONS RAMSET: US suitor stands firm
-------------------------------------
Illinois Tool Works yesterday declared it would not bow to
pressure to further increase its takeover offer for Siddons
Ramset, despite failing to secure "encouragement" from five
major shareholders.

Siddons revealed five of its major shareholders, which
together hold more than 40 per cent of the industrial
manufacturer's shares, had confirmed they did not intend to
accept ITW's conditional revised offer by next week's
deadline.  The move puts under pressure ITW's offer to
increase its bid to $6.30 per share from $5.95 if it gained
acceptances for 50.1 per cent of Siddons stock by 31 March.

ITW Holdings' chairman, Mr Graham Johnston, said Siddons'
statement was carefully worded and did not mean that the
shareholders would not eventually accept the $6.30 offer.
(The Age  23-March-2000)


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C H I N A  &  H O N G  K O N G
==============================

SIU-FUNG CERAMICS HOLDINGS: Posts $1.58B two-year loss
------------------------------------------------------
Insolvent Siu-Fung Ceramics Holdings has recorded a
combined loss of about $1.58 billion in the past two years.

The company's auditors issued a disclaimer on its financial
statements due to limitations in evidence for some of the
company's businesses.  The losses were unveiled in
yesterday's release of annual results for the year to
December 1998 and to last December.

In 1998, losses rose to $ 1.43 billion from a $ 223.2
million loss in 1997, despite an increase in turnover to $
63.38 million from $ 9.17 million previously.  Loss per
share was 100.1 cents.  Last year, the loss narrowed to $
148.23 million while the company adopted a policy of not
consolidating some loss-making operations into the accounts
of 67 per cent-held subsidiary Siu-Fung Ceramics Concept
(SFCC).

Loss per share was reduced to 10.3 cents. Turnover shrank
70.28 per cent to $ 18.83 million.  No dividend was
declared for both years.  SFCC took a $ 1.8 billion write-
off and a loss of about $262 million on the disposal of its
mainland ceramics plants.  The subsidiary's poor
performance contributed to the $ 792.34 million exceptional
loss recorded in the year.  (South China Morning Post  22-
March-2000)


=================
I N D O N E S I A
=================

PT ASTRA INT'L:Investors to file sealed bids for IBRA stake
-----------------------------------------------------------
Three foreign investor groups are scheduled on Thursday
(this afternoon) to submit sealed bids for the Indonesian
Bank Restructuring Agency's 45 percent stake in PT Astra
International, the country's largest carmaker.

This is the last stage of what analysts here see as a
'turbulent' competition for a controlling ownership of
Astra which started last August when Newbridge-Gilbert
investor consortium began discussions with IBRA for the
Astra shares.

The winner itself will be announced on Saturday and a
definitive transaction will be concluded next Friday when
IBRA expects to get at least US$500 million for immediate
transfer to the state treasury, which will subsequently
plug the hole in the state budget.

The three final bidders, shortlisted last month, are: a
consortium led by Newbridge Capital Ltd. and Gilbert Global
Equity Partners of the U.S. and which also includes Chase
Asia Equity Partners Consortium and Indonesia's Saratoga
Investama Sedaya; a group of investors including Bhakti
Investama and Indonesian Recovery Company Ltd led by Lazard
Asia Fund, a unit of Lazard Freres & Co.; and a Singaporean
group led by listed auto distributor Cycle & Carriage Ltd.
with Batavia Investment Management and J.P. Morgan.

"The assessment process will be totally fair. We will only
select the best bidder," IBRA's spokesman Franklin Richard
said, alleviating fears that the agency would engage in
unfair conduct.

Head of IBRA Asset Management Investment Group Dasa
Sutantio agreed that there was no preference for any of the
three bidders. But IBRA senior vice president Arwin Rasyid
said price was not the only factor assessed in selecting
the winning bidder.

"There are other conditions that have to be fulfilled by
the bidders. We therefore need two days for evaluation,"
Rasyid added.

Analysts say successfully completing this transaction will
further enhance international investor confidence in
Indonesia's economic recovery and improve IBRA's
credibility which was damaged last year by its botched
dealings with Standard Chartered Bank of Britain for
investment in Bank Bali.

Budi Ruseno of PT Bhakti Investama said a smooth and fair
deal on Astra sale would give a positive impact to
investors' confidence in Indonesia, especially IBRA.
Fundamentally Astra is sound and already has an established
operating system.

"It does not make any difference either for the government
or Astra as to who would win the bidding as long as the
target of sale proceeds can be reached," Budi added.

" A smooth Astra sale is important to help rebuild
investors' confidence," agreed Lin Che Wei, head of
research at PT SG Securities Indonesia.

Che Wei said the safest, most credible way for the
government to pick the winner was to let the bidder with
the highest price win the bidding, considering all the
politics involved in the transaction.  He understood that
this time the bidding was not soley about the price, but
also other considerations. "But most importantly, the
selection process must be seen as totally fair and
transparent."

Che Wei and several other analysts suggested that the
presentation of the sealed bids (today) be witnessed by a
representative of the World Bank or International Monetary
Fund and the bids be received by an independent notary
public.  "This may be one effective way of dispelling
concerns about collusion or conspiracy that could happen
between Thursday and Saturday," Che Wei added.

Analysts consider the Newbridge-Gilbert consortium as being
in the best position to get the deal given their long
investment experiences in Asia, an estimated $29 billion in
capital under their management, the lead time they had in
valuing Astra and the superior consulting they receive from
former controlling owners of Astra.  Newbridge-Gilbert
seemed undaunted by the failure of its previous attempt to
acquire the Astra shares.

Their initial bid for the Astra stake under an agreement
with IBRA last September ended up in tatters in January
after weeks of acrimonious debate with the Astra management
over an alleged lack of transparency, its questionable
status as the preferred bidder and contention over a due
diligence.  IBRA terminated Newbridge-Gilbert's position as
the preferred bidder in January and opened a competitive
bid in February that produced the three final bidders.

"I think Newbridge-Gilbert is one of the frontrunners,
given the leadtime it enjoyed in assessing Astra and the
advice it has been getting from its local adviser, Edwin
Soeryadjaya," Che Wei said.

Edwin, president of Saratoga Investama, is the youngest son
of William Soeryadjaya who founded Astra in 1957 and was
the controlling owner of the company until 1993 when the
family lost its ownership to settle the debts of Edward,
Soeryadjaya's eldest son.  However, Che Wei added that
Cycle & Carriage is also strongly committed to becoming a
strategic partner in Astra. The Singapore company, faced
with limited business opportunities in the city state, is
eager to expand its business to Indonesia.

"Cycle and Carriage, the distributor of Mitsubishi, KIA,
Mercedes Benz and Proton cars, is almost desperate now to
expand its business through Astra as it will soon lose its
lucrative Mercedess distributorship," Che Wei said.

Rumors in the market on Wednesday said Lazard Freres might
decide on a last-minute withdrawal from the bid, given the
keen competition posed by the other two bidders. One
analyst who preferred anomynity said Lazard was surprised
by a notification by IBRA to the three bidders last week
that the agency would sell more than 1.04 billion shares
(45 percent) and not 850 million as stated previously.

"Lazard might face severe time restraints to collect
additional investment commitment to acquire the stake," the
analyst added.

IBRA has indicated that Rp 4,000 (US$.54) per share would
be the floor price for the deal. That was higher than the
Rp 3,750 offered by Newbridge- Gilbert last year.
Astra closed on Wednesday at Rp 3,725.  Che Wei said the
bidding prices that are to be submitted on Thursday would
most likely be higher than Rp 3,750.

"Newbridge-Gilbert had offered Rp 3,750 last year even
before it conducted a due diligence on Astra. Now that they
have completed a thorough assessment, their bidding price
may be higher than that," Che Wei added. "Personally, I
think, the Astra shares could rise to as high as Rp 5,500
within the next six months if the company could smoothly
carry out its divestment plans and the economic remained on
the recovery track."

However, some analysts argued that investors' valuation of
Astra might change either for good or bad, depending on the
findings of their due diligence on the company over the
past four weeks.

The Newbridge-Gilbert consortium itself has been highly
confident of winning the Astra shares, citing its $90
million successful deal to acquire Astra's electronics unit
(AMT) in Batam Island near Singapore in December 1998 as an
example of its good investment experiences in Indonesia.

Analysts agree that of all the competitive bidders, the
Newbridge-Gilbert consortium (which calls itself
International Investment Partnership) has the most
transaction, investment and operating experience in Asia,
and particularly in Indonesia.

This group has even prepared a white paper, distributed
here last week, which articulates a broad strategy to
further enhance and expand Astra's present businesses in
automobile, motorcycle, financing, heavy equipment and
agrobusiness.  The white paper claims Newbridge-Gilbert
won't break up Astra but would leverage on its
international investment network to expand Astra's export
capabilities.

"Newbridge-Gilbert is looking at Astra as a long-term
investment and would add value by growing businesses and
investing more capital in Astra, and would do so by
involving world class management in Astra's leadership,"
the white paper states.

The group cited its track record in building long-term
partnerships through investments in Advanced Microtronics
Technology (AMT) in Batam, the Asian Infrastructure Fund,
Amkor Technology, ASAT Inc. and Kerry Properties (in Hong
Kong), Mando Machinery Corporation (Korea's leading auto
component producer) and Korea First Bank, Japan's Internet
company Livedoor KK and Bangkok-based Hana Microelectronics
Plc.  Newbridge-Gilbert intends not only to retain existing
members of Astra's management but also to broaden the reach
of the newly implemented employee stock option program.

Astra in 1999 reported unaudited consolidated revenues of
Rp. 15 trillion ($2 billion), operating profit of Rp 2.3
trillion and net income of Rp 809 billion. Considered the
best-managed business group in the country, Astra succeeded
last year in restructuring $975 million and Rp 1 trillion
of its debt, the largest corporate debt restructuring to
date in Indonesia.

The paper says Newbridge-Gilbert intends to rebuild Astra
by keeping and serving existing customers and retaining the
company's Indonesian identity and brand.

This transaction, the group claims, will benefit everyone:
Astra employees by increasing job security, Astra
customers by offering better products and services, the
Indonesian government by gaining global respect and
Indonesia's people by reducing their debt and attracting
much-needed capital to the nation.  (The Jakarta Post  23-
March-2000)

PT BAKRIE & BROS.: Creditors offered 95% in debt swap
-----------------------------------------------------
Indonesia's Bakrie family yesterday offered creditors 95
per cent of their shares in highly indebted conglomerate
Bakrie & Brothers as part of a debt restructuring deal.

The deal would give creditors control of the company. The
Bakrie family holds a 16 per cent direct stake in the firm,
plus a further 51 per cent held indirectly.  Bakrie &
Brothers has foreign debts of around US$1.2 billion (S$2.1
billion) and is also one of the largest debtors to the
Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (Ibra).

"We accept the proposal from creditors to increase to 95
per cent the debt-equity swap with creditors," president
director Irwan Sjarkawi told a news conference.

But he said further discussion would be needed and approval
from the commercial court before a deal could be concluded.

"We need to talk with the creditors again to get agreement
and after that we will go to the commercial court for
approval," he said, adding that handling more than 150
creditors is not an easy job.

Bakrie & Brothers has been in protracted talks about a debt
deal. In December it predicted one was imminent, but the
deal has not yet been agreed.  Bakrie and Brothers would
also give 95 per cent of its shares in four units -- namely
Iridium LLC, PT Arutmin Indonesia, PT Bakrie Sumatera
Plantations and PT Bakrie Kasei Corp -- to creditors.

Mr Sjarkawi did not comment on electronics unit PT Bakrie
Electronics. That firm previously was also included in a
list of Bakrie's five most valuable assets, which were to
be offered to creditors.  However, Lalu Mara Satriawangsa,
spokesman with Bakrie and Brothers, said creditors would
not get any stake in Bakrie Electronics. But they would be
entitled to 100 per cent of that company's profits while
Bakrie and Brothers' debts are being repaid, he said.

Mr Sjarkawi said Indonesia's capital market watchdog
(Bapepam) cannot yet approve the company's plan to issue
some 36.81 billion new shares because Bapepam required
creditors' agreement and commercial court approval
beforehand.

"So that's why we need to delay our shareholders meeting
today to get approval first from creditors and the
commercial court," he added. (Singapore Business Times  22-
March-2000)

PT BANK BALI: Major shareholder sells part of stake
---------------------------------------------------
Indonesia's PT Sarijaya Wirasentosa has sold 1 million more
of its Bank Bali shares, said the Jakarta Stock
Exchange in a statement.

The company had already divested many of its shares in the
scandal-rocked bank, in which it was still the majority
shareholder until last year.The statement said Sarijaya
needed the funds raised by the sales to repay its
creditors. The statement did not identify the share buyers
and the creditors. However, unconfirmed reports linked the
share sales by Sarijaya to increase in the ownership of the
bank by Deutsche Boerse Clearing AG (DBC AG). DBC AG's
ownership of Bank Bali rose sharply from 5.027% on July 6
to 20.082% on July 27 in 1999 and to 49.77% on March 3.

Market players said that Sarijaya might have repaid its
debt to the German company through conversion of debt into
equity in Bank Bali.  The shares of DBC AG have increased
steadily to follow the share divestment by Sarijaya since
last year.

Bank Bali, one of the largest Indonesian private banks was
rocked by high profile scandal last year. A number of
suspects including a former cabinet minister have been
questioned by the law authorities. (Asia Pulse  21-March-
2000)

PT DATAKOM ASIA: Objects to share reduction, dilution
-----------------------------------------------------
PT Datakom Asia opposed on Tuesday the decline in its
ownership in private television station SCTV to 26.85
percent from 47.5 percent.

The company's lawyer, Hotman Paris Hutapea, said the
decision to cut its ownership in the station had no valid
legal ground.  "The dilution in the ownership has a legal
defect. Datakom Asia still has a 47.5 percent stake in
SCTV," Hotman told journalists.

The shareholders were scheduled to hold a meeting late on
Tuesday to approve the new composition of the share
ownership in the station. But the meeting was canceled as
Datakom representatives opposed the change.

SCTV's shareholders agreed in late November to enlarge the
television station's capital by Rp 100 billion in a bid to
strengthen its capital base. All shareholders were required
to provide the fresh funds on a proportional base but
Datacom failed to meet its commitment. As a consequence,
its ownership was reduced to 26.85 percent.

PT Mitrasari Persada's share ownership, however, increased
to 73.15 percent from 52.5 percent previously.  PT Datakom
Asia is owned by businessman Peter Gonta; Mitrasari by
securities company Bhakti Investama and businessmen Henry
Pribadi and Sudwikatmono.  Bhakti Investama is known as a
local securities company that serves as one of the
investment vehicles of prominent American fund manager
George Soros.

Hotman insisted that the shareholders' meeting in November
was not legally acceptable and dismissed Datakom had agreed
to the Rp 100 billion capital injection plan.  "The
November shareholders' meeting only had 50 percent
shareholder approval whereas the company's articles require
at least 66.67 percent approval," he said. (The Jakarta
Post  22-March-2000)

PT TEXMACO GROUP: Gov't mulling taking over company
---------------------------------------------------
Indonesian Finance Minister Bambang Sudibyo said the
government was considering changing the status of debt
ridden Texmaco Group into state company.

Texmaco, a widely diversified conglomerate with core
businesses in textiles and textile machine industries, is
now under control of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring
Agency (IBRA) for large debts to the state.

Texmaco is the largest obligor under IBRA with debts
totaling Rp19.3 trillion (US$ 2.6 billion). IBRA and
Texmaco have agreed to restructure the non-performing
credits through a debt-to-equity-swap scheme under which
the government would be a 52% owner of the conglomerate.

A few days after IBRA received the transfer of Texmaco's
debts from Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), the the agency
provided guarantee for a new loan of Rp720 billion for
Texmaco from the state bank.  Observers and some
legislators strongly criticized the "generosity" but the
government said Texmaco needed the fund to buy basic
materials to maintain normal operations.  (Asia Pulse  22-
March-2000)


=========
J A P A N
=========

MITSUBISHI MOTORS: To bow to Daimler alliance
---------------------------------------------
Ailing Japanese car manufacturer Mitsubishi Motors has
succumbed to approaches from the European giant
DaimlerChrysler, shrinking the number of independents left
in the global auto market.

The Mitsubishi board late yesterday gave the go-ahead to
its president, Mr Katsuhiko Kawasoe, to pursue alliance
talks with the Stuttgart-based company.  The board is also
believed to have abandoned its position that any Daimler
stake be limited to 30 percent, denying it a veto right on
board decisions under Japanese law. This shift makes it
likely that a deal will be wrapped up within the next few
weeks.

The DaimlerChrysler chief executive, Mr Juergen Schrempp,
has repeatedly stressed that his company is not interested
in taking a passive position in another car maker as part
of its Asian expansion plans. The 33.4 percent stake now
being canvassed would give Daimler a decisive boardroom
influence, at a cost of about 130 billion yen
($A3.3billion) given Mitsubishi's latest share price.

The money would be used by Mitsubishi to address its
chronic debt problems, with net liabilities approaching two
trillion yen. In exchange, Daimler would get access to the
Japanese car maker's technological prowess.  Despite being
the world's sixth-largest vehicle maker, DaimlerChrysler
has no marketing or sales base in Asia, with sales from
that region accounting for a puny 3.2per cent of its 1999
revenue.

With the European and US markets sated, Asia is regarded as
the only major growth market over the next decade. An
alliance would produce the world's third largest car
producer, churning out 6.5million vehicles a year. The huge
shake-out in the Japanese car market over the past few
years mean only Toyota and Honda can now be classed as
truly independent. Even they are involved in collaborative
ventures with overseas manufacturers.

Chrysler, then a struggling American company, and
Mitsubishi had an unhappy alliance in the 1980s.
Car industry analysts believe Mitsubishi will continue to
retain a large management say in its own operations,
avoiding a repeat of the Renault SA "takeover" of Nissan.
Renault has used its 36.8per cent stake in Nissan, which is
also struggling with huge overcapacity problems, to
dominate management decisions within the company. Japanese
management has been consigned to the sidelines.

However, yesterday's board decision indicates that even
Mitsubishi is having to concede the heavy involvement of
outsiders in its future.  The decision would not have been
made without the clear backing of the rest of the
Mitsubishi keirestu, or business conglomerate. (The Age  
23-March-2000)

PENTA-OCEAN CONSTRUC.: Share price treads water, loss ahead
-----------------------------------------------------------
Shares of Penta-Ocean Construction Co. (1893) declined
almost continuously from last summer, reaching a low of 115
yen on Feb. 15. They have staged only a modest recovery
since then and are now treading water at around 140 yen.

The company announced March 16 that after recording total
extraordinary charges of 34.5 billion yen, it expects a
15.5 billion yen net loss for the fiscal year ending March
31.

Penta-Ocean will be required from next fiscal year to mark
down real estate inventory that has declined in value. New
pension accounting rules will also be implemented, so the
firm has decided to push forward the disposition of these
charges.

The company will book an 18.4 billion yen appraisal loss on
property held for resale and a 4.6 billion yen set-aside to
its reserves for retirement allowances.  Penta-Ocean will
also record a 3.8 billion yen loss on interest rate swaps,
as well as a 6 billion yen expense relating to money-losing
subsidiaries and nonperforming loans.

The firm is considering using the trust method, in which
securities are placed in a trust set up for the purpose, to
help eliminate its remaining pension shortfall of 39
billion yen as early as next fiscal year.  With this, the
company says it has largely finished disposing of its
nonperforming assets.

Toshihiko Okino of Warburg Dillon Read (Japan) Ltd. says
Penta-Ocean should win a Singapore contract of about 120
billion yen next fiscal year, so he anticipates that
earnings will grow. "At its current share price, it is
undervalued," he asserts. (Nikkei  23-March-2000)

RAITO KOGYO: To cover 3.6B Yen pension underfunding
---------------------------------------------------
Raito Kogyo Co. (1926) will post a 3.6 billion yen
extraordinary loss in the year through March to partly
cover a 4.8 billion yen shortfall in reserves for
retirement payments, company sources said Wednesday.

The remaining 1.2 billion yen will be covered in the year
through next March by transferring stocks held in trust.
As a result of the coverage in the current term, the
company expects net profit to plunge 87% from a year ago to
250 million yen.

The Tokyo-based civil engineering company, which
specializes in stabilizing steep slopes, provides employees
with a tax-qualified pension system and retirement
allowances. The company estimates retirement pay
obligations will total 14.1 billion yen at the end of this
month, using a discount rate of 3.5%.

Raito Kogyo has pension assets worth 6.1 billion yen and
3.2 billion yen in retirement allowance reserves. Sales in
the current business year are forecast to fall 1% to 92
billion yen.  Operating profit is expected to fall 5% to
4.5 billion yen, compared with an initial projection of 4.8
billion yen, due mainly to intensifying competition. The
company predicts pretax profit to decline 7% to 4.65
billion yen, against an original projection of 5 billion
yen. (Nikkei  23-March-2000)


=========
K O R E A
=========

CHO HUNG BANK: Issues subordinated debt of $400 mil.
----------------------------------------------------
Cho Hung Bank signed an agreement to issue $400 million
worth of foreign currency-denominated subordinated bonds in
New York Thursday, a bank official said yesterday.

ING Barings and Salomon Smith Barney lead-managed Cho
Hung's subordinated debt issue which is composed of $200
million each in lower and upper-tier capital.  The yields
on the subordinated bonds are Libor (London Inter-Bank
Offered Rate) plus a spread of 4.28 percent for the lower-
tier capital and Libor plus 4.66 percent for upper-tier
capital.

The bonds will mature in 10 years and Cho Hung will have
the option to repay them ahead of maturity in five years
after the issuing date, the official said.  Cho Hung
originally planned to secure $300 million through the
issuance of foreign currency subordinated bonds but raised
the amount to $400 million due to a favorable response from
foreign investors.

The official said foreign investor interest was high due to
Cho Hung's restructuring efforts and a recent upgrade in
its international credibility. Standard and Poor's, a U.S.
rating agency, recently upgraded Cho Hung's credit rating
to "BB." Cho Hung's foreign currency subordinated debt
issue follows its recent floating of Korean currency-
denominated subordinated bonds worth 150 billion won.

The successful issuance of foreign currency and won-
denominated subordinated bonds is expected to raise Cho
Hung's capital adequacy ratio by 1.6 percentage points to
more than 10 percent, the official added. (The Korea Herald  
23-March-2000)

DAEWOO GROUP: CRCC to hold debt negotiations
--------------------------------------------
Coordination Committee (CRCC) will hold debt negotiations
with individual and corporate debtors of Daewoo companies,
CRCC sources said Wednesday.

The independent agency spearheading debt restructuring of
Daewoo companies under workout will organize separate teams
for individual talks with minority creditors next week.
CRCC sources said Daewoo's restructuring and workout
arrangement with financial institutions are moving slow
despite agreement with Daewoo's foreign creditors due to a
lack of debt settlement with minority lenders.

Individual and corporate creditors are filing court seizure
against bonds and assets of Daewoo Motor, Daewoo Heavy
Industries and Daewoo Corp, aggravating the three's
liquidity crunch.  The CRCC predicts efforts to sell assets
of Daewoo companies may hit a snag if they do not agree on
debt terms with minority creditors soon. But bumpy talks
are expected because individual investors are unlikely to
easily agree on loss share ratio.

Daewoo Motor holds 400.8 billion won (US$358.8 million)
worth of debts with creditors not involved in the workout
arrangement, Daewoo Corp. 239.6 billion won and Daewoo
Heavy Industries 105.2 billion won. (Asia Pulse  22-March-
2000)

DAEWOO MOTORS: Parts makers opposed to foreign control  
------------------------------------------------------
In a survey of 149 auto parts makers by the Korea
Federation of Small and Medium Business, 55.7 percent said
that foreign control of Daewoo Motor will exert negative
effects on the Korean economy.

About 61 percent of parts suppliers to Hyundai Motor voiced
opposition to a foreign owned Daewoo Motor, compared with
positive responses of just 19.4 percent.  However, 53
percent of Daewoo Motor's parts suppliers would be happy to
accept foreign acquisition of the No. 2 Korean carmaker,
compared with negative responses expressed by just 25.1
percent.

Similarly, more than half of the entire respondents
forecast that foreign takeover of Daewoo will seriously
damage Korea's auto industry infrastructures and result in
massive bankruptcies of subcontractors. Yet about 40
percent of Daewoo's parts suppliers did not agree with the
gloomy predictions.

As to the best buyer of Daewoo, 48.3 percent pointed to a
three-way consortium between a Korean conglomerate, Korean
small business and foreign company, followed by a Korean-
only consortium (30.9 percent), full control by foreigners
(10.7 percent) and full control by local conglomerate (4.7
percent). (The Korea Herald  23-March-2000)

KOHAP CORP.: Promoting sale of W250B in securities
--------------------------------------------------
Kohap Corp. said yesterday that it is promoting the sale of
its holdings of securities valued at 250 billion won as
part of efforts to normalize its operations.

The company, now under a debt-workout program, said its
creditors' swap of loans for equity has lifted it from the
state of capital erosion.  It said the legal procedures for
the sell-off of nine subsidiaries will be completed this
year, setting the stage for a turnaround.

Creditors swapped loans totaling 1.8 trillion won for
equity, turning the company's capital structure from a
minus 830 billion won to 425.3 billion won. (The Korea
Herald  21-March-2000)

SAMSUNG MOTORS: Creditors to make final offer to Renault
--------------------------------------------------------
Creditors of South Korea's failed Samsung Motors Inc. said
Tuesday they were poised to make a critical "take it
or leave it" offer to France's Renault SA over the sale of
the auto firm.

"We will send an ultimatum to Renault on Thursday," an
official of Hanvit Bank, Samsung Motors' main creditor,
toldin Seoul, indicating that creditors were not prepared
to concede much in the price dispute.

The Hanvit official, who requested anonymity, warned there
would be no more bargaining with Renault if the French auto
giant's response to the bankers' "final" asking price was
deemed insufficient. Local creditors and Renault will meet
in Paris for a second round of talks on the price dispute,
expected to begin on Saturday, after finishing a first
round of fruitless negotiations here last week, he said.

"Creditors will not fly to Paris for new negotiations if
Renault's response to the final offer falls short of our
expectations," the Hanvit official said.

He, however, refused to elaborate on the exact nature of
the final offer, lthough he said the creditors' overall
asking price would remain unchanged. "In terms of the
asking price, the total amount of 695 billion won would
remain intact in the offer," he said.

Last week, creditors lowered their selling price from one
trillion won to 695 billion won (622 million dollars) while
Renault stuck to its initial offer of 502 billion won (450
million dollars), the official said. He said creditors had
wanted Renault pay 350 billion won in cash up front, and a
further 245 billion won in instalments by using profits the
French company may generate from Samsung Motors'
operations.

"We could swap the remainder of 100 billion won for equity
in the new firm to be created by Renault after taking over
Samsung Motors," the official said.

But Renault has proposed paying just 50 million dollars in
cash up front and the paying the remaining 400 million
dollars in instalments from revenue generated by the
business.

"We know that it would benefit us to wind up the bargaining
as early as possible," the Hanvit official said. "But we
cannot sell it cheap."

The ultimatum came one day after Renault announced it would
invest 500 million dollars over four years after it is
successful in its bid to acquire a 70 percent stake in
Samsung Motors.

"We ardently welcome Renault's investment plan," said Seong
Kun-Je, a spokesman for Samsung Motors. "But what really
matters is that Renault and our creditors have yet to reach
an agreement on the takeover deal," he said. "We hope
that creditors will achieve a smooth settlement in talks
with Renault."

Local creditors, however, remained cool to Renault's
investment plans. "What we are now interested in is to
recover the debts extended to Samsung Motors through the
deal, not its future investment," another banker said.

He dismissed Renault's latest investment plans as "nothing
new" saying they were "nothing more than a bid to create a
favorable atmosphere."

"Renault's latest announcement is seen as a bid to put
pressure on the Seoul government to let the unwilling local
creditors make a decision on the deal," said D.K. Yang, an
auto analyst at ING-Barings in Seoul.

Since South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung took office in
1998, Seoul has actively sought to attract foreign
investment in the country. Hanvit Bank warned Monday that
the deal with Renault was destined for failure if the
French group did not increase its takeover price,
especially the proposed initial cash payment offer of 50
million dollars.

Renault now has until March 31 to achieve a breakthrough in
the talks as its three-month exclusive negotiator status
expires at the end of the month. Creditors have threatend
to offer the firm up for international auction unless
Renault compromises.

Samsung Motors, which was launched in March 1998, was
placed in court receivership last July with a 4.3 trillion
won debt. A year ago, Renault took a controlling 36.8
percent stake in Japan's Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. (Agence
France Press  21-March-2000)

SEOUL BANK: President orders gov't to sell its stakes  
-----------------------------------------------------
President Kim Dae-jung instructed financial officials
yesterday to privatize ailing Seoul Bank as soon as
possible.

Kim issued the order during a visit to the Financial
Supervisory Commission (FSC), the nation's top financial
watchdog.  The President said that Seoul Bank's problems
have persisted too long and that immediate action must be
taken to resolve them.

"The bank must be privatized by selling off the government-
held stakes through public bidding," Kim said.

The President's statements came as the June deadline for
Seoul Bank's normalization fast approaches. The South
Korean government has injected more than 7 trillion won of
taxpayers' money into the troubled institution to keep it
afloat.   Negotiations on the sale of Seoul Bank between
the Seoul government and HSBC Holdings PLC broke down last
August.

Officials' efforts to find a foreign caretaker institution
and a foreign chief executive officer for the bank have
made little progress.  Yesterday, FSC Chairman Lee Yong-
keun said that the current executives of Seoul Bank would
be retained until the government finds a foreign CEO.

The President believes that if the government holds on to
the stakes, which it purchased to keep the bank from going
under, it could be accused of attempting to control the
country's financial institutions, Lee said.

"The President will order the government-held stakes to be
sold as soon as the management situation is normalized,"
Lee said.

The Kim government was attacked by the opposition recently
for its alleged attempts to tighten its grip on the
financial sector. A former FSC vice chairman's recent
appointment as president of Kookmin Bank reinforced the
opposition's accusations.  President Kim discussed the
controversy with FSC officials, who criticized the
opposition for politically exploiting the appointment.
Kim himself expressed displeasure with the issue, saying
that the appointment was made in a transparent manner.

"I do not believe the government controls the financial
sector," Kim said. "It is regrettable that this kind of
controversy is occurring ahead of the (general) elections."
(The Korea Herald  24-March-2000)

SEOUL BANK: Gov't offers management to Deutsches Bank
-----------------------------------------------------
The government has offered Deutsches Bank management of
failed Seoul Bank on a commission basis and negotiations on
the offer are underway.

A Financial Supervisory Commission official said Wednesday
talks are underway with the German bank about entrusting it
with the responsibility of normalizing the insolvent bank,
including the appointments of a new chief executive officer
and other high-level officers, because the bank is in a
state of no management with the delay in appointing a new
CEO.

The Deutsche Bank has proposed to normalize Seoul Bank with
technical assistance only, but the government considers
technical assistance alone is not sufficient to put the
failed bank back on the track, he explained.  The German
bank has experience of having normalized a failed bank in
Indonesia with technical assistance only. (Asia Pulse  23-
March-2000)


===============
M A L A Y S I A
===============

NALURI BHD: Tajudin's MAS stake to be diluted in debt rehab
-----------------------------------------------------------
Malaysian tycoon Tajudin Ramli's stake in Malaysia Airlines
will be diluted within a month.

C Rajandram, chairman of the Corporate Debt Restructuring
Committee (CDRC), yesterday said Naluri Bhd, in which Mr
Tajudin owns 51 per cent, will have to dispose of some of
its 29 per cent stake in the national carrier as part of
its debt restructuring exercise.

But Naluri will still be the predominant shareholder of
MAS, Mr Rajandram said, when asked by reporters after a
conference about the fate of Naluri, previously known as
Malaysian Helicopter Services.  He said the Naluri revamp -
- to remove almost 1.2 billion Malaysian ringgit (S$543
million) in debts -- would be completed within one month.

Mr Rajandram said the CDRC will only help restructure
corporate debts and not individual debts. It's not clear if
Mr Tajudin will have to scale down his stake in Naluri.
MAS has not sought the help of the CDRC as it has embarked
on its own restructuring exercise to lighten its debt
burden of over RM12 billion. The debt was incurred largely
due to the depreciation of the ringgit and the sharp
decline in business in the last two years.

The disposal of some of Naluri's stake in the national
carrier may further dampen the share price of MAS, which
ended six sen lower at RM3.72. When asked if the MAS shares
will be sold in the open market, Mr Rajandram said it is up
to the trustee to decide on the method of disposal.

Naluri has pledged almost its entire stake in MAS as
collateral for loans. Naluri's debts are in the form of
RM600 million 2 per cent redeemable bank guaranteed bonds
that mature on June 12 this year. The banks provided the
guarantee by securing some of Naluri's equity investments.

Including the revamp of Naluri, the CDRC is confident of
restructuring debts worth RM16.4 billion by September. The
government-backed debt panel will be dissolved by then.
Besides Naluri, it has assisted shareholders of troubled
companies -- like Renong Bhd and Tongkah Holdings -- in
their protracted negotiations with creditors during
Malaysia's worst recession in 1998.

"This voluntary winding down of CDRC will mark the end of a
crucial phase in Malaysia's corporate restructuring brought
about by the Asian financial crisis which began in July
1997," said Mr Rajandram. (Singapore Business Times  22-
March-2000)

SPORTMA CORP BHD: Debt revamp proposed for Sportma
--------------------------------------------------
The special administrators of Sportma Corp Bhd have
proposed a corporate debt restructuring scheme for the
company that involves cancellation of its entire share
premium reserves, transfer of its listing status to Harn
Len Corp Bhd, disposal of assets and the winding up of
several subsidiaries.

In a statement to the KLSE, the company said the proposed
cancellation of its share premium reserves of RM1.05mil was
to offset its accumulated losses.  The company also said
the proposed transfer of its listing status to Harn Len
Corp would involve exchanging 10 of its RM1 ordinary shares
for one new Harn Len share to be issued.

Harn Len would be converted into a public company and
become the new holding company of Sportma.  It was also
proposed that a rights issue of 30 million new Harn Len
shares be made at par on the basis of 12 new Harn Len
shares for every existing share held after the listing
status transfer.

The debt restructuring scheme would also involve the
acquisition by Harn Len of the entire equity in five
companies from LNH Enterprise Sdn Bhd and the fixed assets
held by Lian Hup Manufacturing Co Sdn Bhd, Syarikat Senang
Oil Palm Sdn Bhd and Perdana Properties Bhd comprising
eight oil palm plantations covering 28.1 acres, a palm oil
mill and a 25-storey commercial building.

The purchase consideration of RM350mil would be satisfied
with the issuance of 325 million new Harn Len shares and
RM25mil cash.  Other proposals in the debt restructuring
scheme calls for:

The disposal of Sportma assets to Amalgamated Composite
Technologies Sdn Bhd for RM18mil cash and a further
consideration of RM4.6mil by agreement to assume the hire-
purchase liabilities of Sportma;

The payment of RM33.3mil by LNH Enterprise, Lian Hup,
Syarikat Senang and Perdana Properties, consisting of
RM8mil cash and RM25.3mil in Harn Len shares from the
proposed acquisitions to BSN Commercial Bank Bhd to release
the debenture held over the remaining assets of Sportma;

The disposal of the entire paid-up capital of Sportma
Integrated Industries Sdn Bhd for RM2 cash through an
agreement between Amalgamated Composite and Sportma;

The disposal of the fixed assets of Silksprint Industries
Sdn Bhd to Amalgamated Composite by way of Amalgamated
Composite assuming the liabilities of Silksprint amounting
to RM337,000 except for RM12.9mil owed to Sportma;

An advance of RM6.5mil in RM1 ordinary shares in Harn Len,
to be issued to Sportma for the partial settlement of
claims by hire-purchase creditors and unsecured creditors;
and

The winding up of Sportma companies Silksprint, Chemitech
Industries Sdn Bhd, WWL Corrugators Sdn Bhd, Senibina Ceria
Sdn Bhd, Artforce Sdn Bhd, Sportma Food Industries Sdn Bhd,
Sportma Sporting Goods Sdn Bhd, Sportma Medicare Sdn Bhd
and Rakan Muda Corp Sdn. (The Star  23-March-2000)


=====================
P H I L I P P I N E S
=====================

TRANSFARM & CO.INC.: Daewoo nixes RP assembly plant plan
--------------------------------------------------------
Daewoo Motor Phils. Inc. will no longer push through with
its plan to set up its own assembly plant in the
Philippines after the Board of Investments (BOI) rejected
four of the five car models it had applied for registration
under the government's Motor Vehicle Development Program
(MVDP).

Daewoo is still locked in a legal tussle with its local
partner, Transfarm & Co. Inc., over its plan to set up its
own plant, but the BOI decision effectively clinched the
case in favor of Transfarm.  BOI governor Antonio Leviste
told reporters that the board approved the registration of
only one model, the Daewoo Chairman, a luxury car intended
for the high-end segment of the passenger car market.

The BOI rejected Daewoo's lower-end models -- Lanus, Matiz,
Hubira and Laganza. Matiz is a compact car already
registered with the BOI under Transfarm which has been
assembling this model under a franchise agreement with
Daewoo.

According to Leviste, Daewoo has decided to forego its plan
to assemble its own cars since it was allowed to register
only its luxury car model. "Of course you can't spend on an
entire plant to assemble only one car," he said.

Leviste, who has been mediating talks between Daewoo and
Transfarm, said the Korean company was willing to settle
with Transfarm but the Daewoo Group ran into deep financial
straits that left its Philippine subsidiary without the
funds to compensate Transfarm for its market development
effort.

Transfarm has been in partnership with Daewoo Cars, a
subsidiary of the third largest chaebol in Korea, since
1994 with a 70-30 percent-owned manufacturing plant in
Compostela, Cebu.  With steady sales of 200-250 units a
month, Transfarm said the Daewoo line, which includes
Racer, Espero, Prince, Cielo and Brougham, has captured
roughly seven percent of the market.

Daewoo's decision to assemble its own cars and apply the
models for BOI registration was the move that sparked its
row with Transfarm which has been assembling and marketing
Daewoo cars under his franchise agreement.  With no
authorization to assemble its other models, Daewoo now has
to settle its dispute with Transfarm. Both companies had
filed separate petitions for dissolution of partnership at
the Cebu court as well as the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC).

Transfarm, had earlier said it was no longer interested in
keeping its partnership with Daewoo. Transfarm president
Luis Quisumbing said the company's only concern was to be
compensated for its efforts to develop the local market for
Daewoo cars.

"They were not really good partners anyway," he said.
"Having said that, Daewoo should have sat down and settled
this rather than resorting to this trickery. After settling
this, then we can part ways."

To settle the issue out of court, Transfarm has offered the
plant and operations (including the dealership network) to
Daewoo for $20 million but has not received any favorable
response from the Korean firm. (The Philippine Star  23-
March-2000)

UNIWIDE GROUP: 12 creditor banks okay rehabilitation plan
---------------------------------------------------------
At least 12 of the 14 creditor banks of cash-strapped
Uniwide Group of Companies have given their nod on the
local retailer's rehabilitation plan.

One of the provisions in the amended prehab package
involves a huge cut in the payment of the retail group's
more than 11-billion-peso (US$268.8 million at
PhP40.915:US$1) debt.  
A well-placed source told BusinessWorld yesterday that the
management of the beleaguered retail warehouse operator is
in the process of finalizing the memorandum of
understanding (MOU) which will be distributed to creditors
before the end of the month.

Creditors which have agreed to the terms of the amended
plan include: Allied Banking Corp., Asian Banking Corp.,
East Asia Capital, Equitable Banking Corp., ING Bank,
International Exchange Bank, Land Bank of the Philippines,
Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., Philippine Bank of
Communications, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., and United
Coconut Planters Bank.

The source said the management is still negotiating with
the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) and East West
Banking Corp. (EWBC) which have yet to give their go-signal
on the terms. The banks' exposures to the Uniwide group
amount to PhP720.08 million ($17.6 million) and PhP134.28
million ($3.3 million), respectively.

"We're still talking to them (referring to BPI and East
West) and hopefully we will get them to approve the terms
in two weeks' time where we also hope to have the MOA
signing. We're very optimistic that they will approve
because the discount that we're asking should be uniform to
all creditors," the source said.

BPI is opposing the 20% discount on cash payment the group
is offering to banks and the 40% and the 50% discount being
offered to contractors and trade suppliers, respectively.
EWBC, on the other hand, is questioning the creation of a
special purpose company (SPC) whose shares will be
distributed to participating creditors.

EWBC is also expressed objection to the proposed settlement
of Uniwide's debts by replacing the collateral, which is
Coastal Mall Building and Improvements, with participation
in Metromall.

"With East West, it's basically a technical issue. The
company is not a universal bank and so they don't want to
accept the shares of stock. But as soon as we clear that
technical issue we expect them to approve," the source
added.

Under the amended rehab plan, the retail group is proposing
to form an SPC with Metromall as its sole asset. Shares of
the new company will be used as part of Uniwide's repayment
plan.  The debt-laden Uniwide Group is also planning to
settle obligations via debt-for-asset swap. All properties
of the group, including properties in Coastal Road,
Maragondon and Tarnate in Cavite and in Cabuyao, Laguna
will be used to pay off debts.

Uniwide's white knight, French retail giant Casino
Guichard-Perrachon SA, requires that the said rehab plan be
approved by all creditors before it infuses the PhP3.57
billion ($87.3 million) the foreign firm has committed to
invest in the local retailer. The fresh capital will be
used to retire obligations not settled through payment in
kind.

The two retailers agreed early last month involving the
purchase of Casino of Uniwide's retail business and
selected real estate assets with an estimated value of
roughly PhP4 billion ($97.7 million). (Business World  23-
March-2000)

VICTORIAS MILLING CO.: Overseer shifts to Plan B
------------------------------------------------
The overseer of ailing Victorias Milling Co. (VMC) has
shifted to "Plan B" -- scouting for investors who are
willing to inject between 150 million Philippine pesos
(PhP) (US$3.6 million at PhP40.915:US$1) and PhP300 million
($7.3 million) in fresh capital to the sugar miller,
bidding committee chairman Gerardo Anonas said.

The SEC-appointed body is also considering a possible debt-
to-equity conversion by creditor banks, which will result
in a "substantial" and "most likely controlling stake" in
VMC, Mr. Anonas, who is also executive vice-president of
East West Banking Corp., said. Amendments to the original
rehabilitation plan, which was drafted in 1997, were
proposed during a management committee (mancom) meeting the
other day, he said. Mancom, however, has yet to act on it,
he added.

"We would like to ensure there is a plan in place to avoid
liquidation by secured creditors. The principles of the
original rehabilitation plan will still be followed. The
basics of the plan is not bad. It just needs updating," Mr.
Anonas said yesterday.

VMC's debts to 32 creditor banks have ballooned to PhP6.5
billion ($158.8 million) from PhP5.2 billion ($127 million)
in 1997, when it ran to the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) for suspension of payments. Of the amount,
64.62% or PhP4.2 billion ($102.6 million) is unsecured, he
said. (Business World  23-March-2000)


=================
S I N G A P O R E
=================

CLOB INT'L: Effective set to clinch 90% Clob acceptance
-------------------------------------------------------
The acceptance rate for Effective Capital's offer to
migrate Clob investors' frozen Malaysian securities is
pushing towards the 90 per cent mark.

And brokers in Singapore heaved a sigh of relief yesterday
as the widely-feared last-minute rush by investors to send
in their acceptances did not materialise. Contrary to
earlier expectations that broking houses would be swamped,
the number of clients queuing up to hand in acceptances
yesterday was manageable despite it being the last day for
submission through brokers.

Roger Yeo, senior vice-president at Vickers Ballas, said
his broking house processed about 150 applications
yesterday. "It was quite calm today, and we've had a steady
flow," he said. "Based on the $200,000 in transfer fees
that Vickers Ballas and GK Goh Holdings have absorbed, I
reckon we have processed almost 50,000 Clob acceptances to
date, which is almost 100 per cent of all our Clob
shareholding clients."

But sources at the PricewaterhouseCoopers facilitation
centres set up on Cross Street had a much more busy day.
Several thousand Clob shareholders who had been turned away
by their broking houses, some of which had set their
deadlines as early as last Sunday, made a beeline there.

Sources at PricewaterhouseCoopers, which has been appointed
by Effective Capital to help with its Clob offer, said the
centres would continue processing Clob acceptances until
Sunday evening, March 26. The CDP will stop accepting
applications for the migration of Clob shares after March
27, a few days ahead of Effective Capital's March 31
closing deadline, so as to give itself time to do the
necessary paperwork.

By yesterday evening, about 142,000 of the total of 172,000
Clob account holders had submitted their documents
accepting Effective Capital's offer to migrate their shares
for trading on the Malaysian exchange. This gives an
acceptance rate of just over 80 per cent. But given that
some Clob investors are submitting their documents through
PricewaterhouseCoopers' facilitation centres in Singapore,
Kuala Lumpur and Johore Baru, the number could rise by
another 10,000 to 15,000 by the March 27 submission
deadline set by the CDP. This would take the acceptance
rate to about 90 per cent.

Despite the limited time left before the closing date,
Effective Capital's chief executive Mohamed Moiz said its
deadline will not be extended. "The deadline is cast in
stone," he told BT.

Clob investors who turn down Effective Capital's offer
could opt for a second option arranged by the exchanges of
Malaysia and Singapore. Under this option the immobilised
securities will be released over nine months from January
2003. Investors will have to pay the Malaysian exchange a
one per cent fee based on prices in the 31st month.

But with such a lengthy timeframe under this alternative
offer, called Scheme B, analysts said most investors would
have no choice but to accept Effective Capital's Scheme A.
Even David Gerald, the president of the association
representing Clob investors, conceded that the acceptance
rate for Effective Capital's offer may touch 90 per cent
although he himself would opt for Scheme B.

"Ten per cent will go for Scheme B. In principle, I'm
against a third party collecting fees for performing duties
that are within the domain of the two exchanges," said Mr
Gerald.

Investors taking up Effective's offer will pay the company
a fee of 1.5 per cent to stagger the release of their
securities, estimated to be worth 20 billion Malaysian
ringgit (S$9 billion), over 16 months.

Despite the high acceptance rate for the Effective offer,
many investors are unhappy over the handling of the Clob
saga. Many investors felt that they should not be penalised
for having traded in the Malaysian shares on Clob
International, Singapore's over-the-counter securities
market.

Trading of the Malaysian shares on Clob came to a halt in
September 1998 when Kuala Lumpur imposed capital controls
to help stem speculative attacks on its currency.
(Singapore Business Times  23-March-2000)


===============
T H A I L A N D
===============

BANGCHAK PETROLEUM: Public offering plan approved
-------------------------------------------------
Bangchak Petroleum's (BCP) board of directors on Monday
approved a plan for a public offering of 250 million new
shares, to raise its registered capital from Bt5.22 billion
to Bt7.72 billion.

In a filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), BCP
said the board has yet to determine the offer price. The
public offering is aimed at raising funds to strengthen its
financial standing and reduce its debt-to-equity ratio, the
company said.  The company has said that it has a policy to
allocate 50 per cent of its net profit for dividend
payment. (The Nation  22-March-2000)

SIAM CHEMICALS: Formally delisted from Thai bourse
--------------------------------------------------
The SET made an official announcement yesterday that Siam
Chemicals (S-Chem) will be formally delisted from the Thai
bourse from March 30.

The announcement follows the request from S-Chem's
management seeking permission to be delisted. The SET said
its board of governors has given the nod because S-Chem has
fulfilled obligations under the bourse's rules governing
delisting of securities. (The Nation  22-March-2000)

THAI TEL.AND TEL.: Alcatel offers $25M credit facility
------------------------------------------------------
A subsidiary of Alcatel, the French telecoms equipment
manufacturer, has offered a $25m credit facility to debt-
ridden Thai provincial operator Thai Telephone and
Telecommunication.

Georges Jaffres, managing director of Alcatel (Thailand),
yesterday said his company had proposed the facility to
help TT&T expand its internet services. He said Alcatel,
which is already owed $100m by TT&T, had not yet had a
response to its proposal.  Alcatel said the deal was
conditional on its agreeing to TT&T's debt restructuring.

TT&T, which owes more than $1.1B to a range of banks and
suppliers, reached a debt restructuring deal with most of
its creditors earlier this month, which involved
rescheduling repayments, a capital injection and a debt-
for-equity swap.

Mr Jaffres said the $1.17B debt workout plan - tentatively
agreed by most creditors - should allow the 1.5M-line
operator to offer a more imaginative and muscular challenge
to its rivals: "We can expect a very competitive situation.
. .we want it to be a major player in the Thai telecoms
market."

The debt workout will repay secured local and French bank
creditors, who account for more than half the debt.
Many analysts reckon TT&T's future may be in partnership
with a stronger local firm such as cellphone operator
Advanced Information Services or the Bangkok fixed-line
business TelecomAsia.

Total Access Communication said this week it wants to sell
a stake to a foreign partner by mid-year.  Norway's Telenor
and Australia's Telstra have also been linked to the Thai
cellphone operator.  TT&T is a wallflower at a time when
the search is on for new alliances. It desperately needs
fresh funds, but is wary of accepting too low a price.
It is also handicapped by a gruelling high revenue sharing
agreement with the government. (Financial Times  23-March-
2000)

TIPCO ASPHALT: Approval sought for debenture offering
-----------------------------------------------------
Tipco Asphalt's (TASCO) board of directors has passed a
resolution to seek the approval of shareholders regarding
the issuance and offering of debentures not exceeding Bt2
billion. The shareholders are scheduled to meet on April 26
in this regard.

The company informed the SET that the proceeds will be used
to refinance and repay the company's debts, as well as to
reserve for future projects and working capital.  As per
the terms and conditions, the face value of the unsecured
and unsubordinated debentures will be Bt1,000 per unit and
will have a maturity period of 5 years and will be sold to
qualified investors.  However, TASCO said the coupon rate
has not been fixed as yet and will depend on the market
condition at the time of offering. (The Nation  22-March-
2000)


S U B S C R I P T I O N  I N F O R M A T I O N

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