Inside the $1 Billion Power Move That Could Redefine Southeast Asia's Fuel Game

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

Indonesia's Chandra Asri Pacific is making its boldest regional move yet. The country's largest petrochemical group has chosen KKR & Co.'s (NYSE:KKR) insurance arm, Global Atlantic, to back its $1 billion acquisition of Esso-branded fuel stations in Singapore from Exxon Mobil. According to people familiar with the matter, Global Atlantic will provide a $750 million unitranche facility at single-digit interest rates, while Chandra Asri will inject the remaining $250 million in equity. The companies have not commented publicly on the financing terms, but the deal could mark a significant expansion of Chandra Asri's downstream footprint in Asia.

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Global Atlantic reportedly edged out a competing consortium that had been seeking to finance the same transaction. Chandra Asri had earlier explored a more fragmented structure involving up to $600 million in senior bank loans and around $250 million in mezzanine funding from non-bank investors such as Indonesia Investment Authority, Allianz Global Investors, and Ares Management. The decision to pivot toward a single-lender structure may reflect a desire for greater certainty and speed in execution as the company pushes to close the deal before year-end.

Chandra Asri signed the sale and purchase agreement last month through a special-purpose vehicle under its wholly owned subsidiary. The transaction still awaits regulatory clearance, but management's timeline signals growing confidence in expansion beyond Indonesia's borders. For a company long known for its domestic dominance in petrochemicals, the Singapore deal could be the first step toward transforming Chandra Asri into a more diversified regional energy playerone positioned to capture both rising fuel demand and the evolving dynamics of Southeast Asia's downstream market.

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