SINGAPORE—PT Berlian Laju Tanker, Indonesia’s biggest shipping company by market value, plans to buy an overseas rival and is conducting so-called due diligence on the unidentified target, a statement said.

The Jakarta-based company issued the statement after a query from the Jakarta Stock Exchange following media reports about a purchase. Due diligence is a legal term that describes the checking of an asset before a takeover. No further details were given about the planned purchase.

TradeWinds, a shipping industry publication, reported Monday that Berlian will buy Chembulk Tanker Llc. without saying where it got the information. Berlian managers were in New York last week negotiating the transaction, the newspaper said.

Berlian may pay $500 million for an unnamed shipping company, Bisnis Indonesia reported last week, citing president director Widihardja Tanudjaja. ---Bloomberg

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Asian port to be privatized 

SINGAPORE—Malaysia plans to privatize Penang Port, the country’s oldest commercial harbor, Business Times said, citing people familiar with the plans.

Abdul Latif Abdullah, chairman of Penang Port Sdn Bhd, a unit of the Ministry of Finance, and Konsortium Logistik Bhd, Malaysia’s biggest auto- motive logistics company, are the frontrunners to run the facility, the newspaper said.

Details about the privatization plan may be announced later this month, the newspaper said. Penang is in northwestern Malaysia. ---Bloomberg

Agency told to collect shipping firm’s late fees

THE Philippines’ top audit body advised the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) to either collect fees worth millions of pesos from Negros Navigation Co. (Nenaco) or cancel its permit until it fully settles its government obligations.

AFTER failing to convince existing truckers to modernize their respective fleets, government-controlled Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) said it asked shipping companies to encourage their partners to tap loans alloted for the purchase of brand-new trucks.

SINGAPORE—PT Berlian Laju Tanker, Indonesia’s biggest shipping company by market value, plans to buy an overseas rival and is conducting so-called due diligence on the unidentified target, a statement said.