Prajogo Pangestu Affiliate Offloads $98 Million Stake in Barito Renewables (BREN) to Boost Liquidity

JAKARTA, Investortrust.id — Green Era Energy Pte Ltd, a major investment arm affiliated with Indonesia’s wealthiest tycoon Prajogo Pangestu, has cashed out Rp 1.57 trillion ($98.7 million) from PT Barito Renewables Energy Tbk (BREN). The divestment comes at a critical juncture for the geothermal giant as it battles market volatility and regulatory scrutiny over its tightly held share structure.

For global institutional investors, BREN has been a high-performance but controversial ESG play. The stock’s massive weight in regional indices has been threatened by a "concentration risk" where 97.31% of shares were held by a handful of entities. This divestment is a tactical move to increase the "free float"—the shares available for public trading—which is essential to prevent BREN from being delisted or excluded from major global indices like MSCI and FTSE.

.

Liquidity Move Amid Price Plunge

Management at Barito Renewables (BREN), the renewable energy arm of the Barito Pacific conglomerate, confirmed on Monday that Green Era sold 350 million shares at a strike price of Rp 4,510. The timing was aggressive, occurring as the stock tumbled to its lowest level in over a year.

The sale reduced Green Era’s stake from 22.92% to 22.66%, though it remains the second-largest shareholder behind PT Barito Pacific Tbk (BRPT), which controls 64.66%. "The purpose of the transaction is to increase the free float and liquidity of shares outstanding in the market," BREN management stated in an official filing Monday.

.

Market Reaction and Regulatory Heat

The divestment failed to immediately soothe investor nerves. On Monday, BREN shares plummeted by Rp 530 (11.04%) to Rp 4,270 during the first trading session. The sell-off was triggered by a recent announcement that a staggering 97.31% of the company was owned by just four parties, leaving a razor-thin margin for public trading.

This concentration has placed BREN in the crosshairs of the Indonesia Stock Exchange (BEI), leading to price swings that saw the stock touch a session low of Rp 4,140. For a company that reported 2025 revenues of $605 million—a modest 1.4% year-on-year growth—the technical valuation issues are currently overshadowing its operational performance.

The Long-Term Bull Case

Despite the current chaos, some analysts argue the fundamental growth story remains intact. Sucor Sekuritas analyst Andreas Yordan Ginting recently maintained a "Buy" recommendation with a high-conviction target price of Rp 19,800. The optimism is fueled by BREN’s subsidiary, Star Energy Geothermal, which recently partnered with global technology leader SLB (formerly Schlumberger) to accelerate drilling at the Sekincau project in Lampung.

While BREN's 2025 net profit of $132 million hit only 94% of analyst projections due to temporary spikes in maintenance costs, the company’s EBITDA margin remains a robust 85.6%. "BREN remains attractive due to significant capacity expansion, strong revenue visibility, and the ability to generate solid cash flow," Ginting noted in a research report. For long-term players, the current dip may represent a entry point, provided the company can successfully navigate its liquidity hurdles.