Indonesia's 2002 BCA sale to Farallon revived its biggest bank

Bank Central Asia, Indonesia's largest retail bank with about 800 branches, collapsed with its parent Salim Group during the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. The state's Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) took control and by 2002 held 60.3 percent of the bank, but earlier attempts to sell it had failed so badly that the IMF suspended a $5 billion loan programme in December 2000.

Two consortia reached the final round: Standard Chartered, the presumed favourite, and FarIndo, assembled by US fund Farallon Capital Management with the Hartono brothers, owners of the Djarum cigarette group. The sale became a political tug-of-war between IBRA and the State Enterprises Ministry, and observers treated the outcome as the test of Jakarta's commitment to reform.

The government chose the Farallon-led consortium, which agreed in March 2002 to buy 51 percent of BCA in a deal expected to raise around $450 million for the cash-strapped state. Closing was scheduled within six months, and Indonesia's reform programme with the IMF could resume.

Raised about $450m for the state and reopened Indonesia to foreign investors; by 2026 BCA was the country's largest bank by market value at about $44bn.

A transparent, competitive sale of a bailed-out bank restored investor confidence in Indonesian economic policy.

Selling 51 percent handed control to private owners while the state kept influence over the transition.

The Hartono partnership gave the deal a local anchor, reducing fears that the bank would be stripped by distant owners.

Selling a bailed-out bank to private owners is worth more than the price: a credible sale restores trust, draws capital back, and lets the asset compound for decades.

The sale was completed at the end of 2002, and the Hartono family's holding company later became BCA's largest shareholder. By 2026 BCA was Indonesia's largest bank by market value, worth about $44 billion, and the Hartonos were the country's richest family — a lasting payoff from a sale once opposed as a giveaway.