Indonesia’s richest man loosens grip on Petrindo, Barito amid tighter ownership rules

Indonesia’s richest man has begun selling small stakes in his listed companies as tighter ownership rules push firms to increase shares available to public investors.Billionaire Prajogo Pangestu sold a 0.56 per cent stake in coal and mining holding Petrindo Jaya Kreasi to boost the company’s free float, according to a stock exchange filing late Thursday. Prajogo-affiliated Green Era Energy this week also sold a fraction of its stake in his Barito Renewables Energy.Regulators are fast-tracking the changes ahead of a May deadline to avoid a potential downgrade to frontier market status by index compiler MSCI that could spur foreign outflows.The Indonesia-stock-exchange" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="25763" data-entity-type="organization">Indonesia Stock Exchange last week issued a regulation that requires listed companies to increase shares available for public trading – or free float – to 15 per cent, giving firms up to three years to achieve the level.Prajogo Pangestu is Indonesia’s richest person with a net worth of about US$35.2 billion. Photo: Barito PacificBarito Renewables, along with the Widjaja family’s Dian Swastatika Sentosa, was among nine firms the regulator singled out for concentrated ownership of more than 95 per cent, spurring sell-offs.“[Prajogo] might only want to follow the rules,” said Christopher Andre Benas, head of research at BCA Sekuritas. “We hope that other tycoons follow suit.”