Danantara, Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund, is accelerating its restructuring push with two parallel initiatives: the merger of eight state-owned asset management units and the planned acquisition of Pertamina’s healthcare subsidiary PT Pertamina Bina Medika IHC (Pertamedika IHC).
Speaking on the sidelines of an event in Jakarta, Danantara chief investment officer Pandu Sjahrir said Danantara intends to consolidate eight SOE asset-management platforms into a single structure. The aim, he noted, is to build an institution with the scale to compete regionally while eliminating fragmented mandates across the state sector.
He didn’t specify more about the asset managers. However, most of the asset managers are under its financial arm, including Bank Mandiri; BNI; BRI; and Indonesia Financial Group (IFG), the SOE’s holding company for non-bank firms.
“We want asset management that actually has the size to compete. Right now, too many units are spread thin, and we need to bring them together,” Pandu said, as quoted by local media reports.
According to Pandu, only eight SOEs contribute around 95% of the total dividends flowing to the state, while the rest—around 52%—are still in losses, despite Indonesia having more than 1,000 state-linked companies. The merger is designed to streamline oversight and direct resources towards higher-impact segments.
In a separate announcement, Danantara also revealed its plan to acquire a majority stake in Pertamedika through its subsidiary, PT Danantara Asset Management. Pertamedika has over 72 hospitals and 58 clinics, according to its website.
“The company hereby announces a planned acquisition of the majority shares of PT Pertamina Bina Medika by PT Danantara Asset Management from the existing shareholders,” the management said in a disclosure on Thursday.
Danantara noted the deal will be completed once the transaction documents are signed, all conditions precedent outlined in those documents are fulfilled, and the necessary regulatory approvals are secured. Under Article 127 (4) of the Company Law (UU PT), creditors with objections to the acquisition have 14 calendar days from the date of announcement to file written protests.
Pandu described the Pertamedika move as part of a broader effort to restructure state-owned enterprises and streamline their focus. Pertamina, he argued, needs to return to its core business, which is oil and gas, while non-core assets such as hospitals should be consolidated under a dedicated platform.
“This is an example—healthcare. Pertamina has so many hospitals, but its core business is oil and gas,” he said.
Danantara plans to place the hospital under a new Danantara Hospital Group, which is expected to become Indonesia’s largest hospital chain. The group will be run by professional operators, with a directive to overhaul the performance of SOE-owned hospitals.
Pandu pointed out that the EBITDA margin of state-run hospitals currently hovers around 8%, a level he believes can be lifted substantially under the right management. With consolidation and professionalisation, he expects book value to increase five to six times, with EBITDA margins improving to at least 20% in the first year and potentially reaching 40% by the third year.
“If we put them under one umbrella and bring in people who know how to build an international-scale hospital network, I’m confident the margins can rise meaningfully,” he added.
