Semen Gresik's July 1991 IPO made it Indonesia's first privatised state company

Until the early 1990s the aggregate performance of Indonesian state enterprises was poor, prompting reform pressure from the IMF and domestic policymakers. Semen Gresik, a cement company founded in 1957, became the first Indonesian SOE to be privatised, listing on the Jakarta Stock Exchange in July 1991 after a successful IPO.

The divestiture opened a wave of sales — Indosat (1995), Telkom (1995), Bank BNI (1996) and Timah (1996) — which an academic analysis of the programme judged 'all relatively successful'.

The company consolidated into Indonesia's largest cement producer and, renamed Semen Indonesia, kept the industry lead; the trade press still described it as the country's largest cement producer in 2016.

First Indonesian SOE listed (July 1991); became the country's largest cement producer

Choosing a profitable, well-understood company for the first sale reduced political and market risk.

The successful IPO proved the model, making the Telkom and Indosat privatisations that followed easier.

Listing on the Jakarta exchange built domestic investor support before any strategic sale.

Starting a privatisation programme with a well-run company builds credibility: Semen Gresik's 1991 IPO showed Indonesian SOEs could be sold, and telecom and mining giants followed.

Semen Gresik grew into Semen Indonesia, the country's largest cement producer. A later 1998 stake sale to Mexico's Cemex became Indonesia's most complicated divestiture and was eventually arbitrated, while the 1991 listing is credited with launching the country's privatisation wave.