PT Archi Indonesia has postponed its planned initial public offering of as much as $500-million because of weak gold prices and falling stocks, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The gold miner, a unit of Indonesian conglomerate Rajawali Group, made the decision after gauging demand for the Jakarta IPO last month, said the people, who asked not to be named because the information is private. The deal could be revived if the markets improve, said one of the people.
At $500-million, the offering would have been Indonesia’s biggest IPO since airline PT Garuda Indonesia raised $524-million in 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Gold has fallen 14% from a record high in August amid optimism that coronavirus vaccines will fuel a global economic recovery. The benchmark Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite Index, has declined 7% from a nearly three-year high in January.
Other companies in the region have also seen their listing plans put on hold because of the market turmoil. Thai Beverage said on Friday it would defer the potential spinoff and listing of its brewery unit in Singapore, citing the uncertainty of market conditions and the worsening Covid-19 pandemic. PT Kalbe Farma, Indonesia’s biggest drugmaker by market value, postponed the IPO of its nutritional food unit PT Sanghiang Perkasa due to valuation concerns, Bloomberg News reported in March.
Archi’s advisers restarted preparations last year for a potential first-time share sale in Jakarta, Bloomberg News reported.
The company operates a gold and silver mine in North Sulawesi known as Toka Tindung, according to Rajawali’s website. The mine had about 3.5-million gold equivalent ounces in mineral resources and two-million in ore reserves as of June 2016.
Representatives for Rajawali and Archi did not immediately respond to requests for comment.