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The sale of once-troubled Bank Mutiara has taken a step back as the Deposit Insurance Agency (LPS), which owns 99.99 percent of the bank, has decided that three interested bidders are ineligible.

“According to the LPS’s assessment, there are no investors that fulfill the requirements,” the agency said on Thursday.

In the absence of qualified prospective investors, “the LPS will restart the divestment process at a time to be determined later,” the agency said.

It did not specify what exactly made the interested bidders ineligible, nor did it identify them.

Mirza Adityaswara, an LPS commissioner, said that the bidders had not submitted the necessary requirements, without elaborating. He added that the price of the offer was not under discussion in this part of the process.

LPS took over Bank Century — later renamed Bank Mutiara — in November 2008 following a Rp 6.7 trillion ($783.9 million) bailout to keep the lender afloat after its owners looted its accounts. The rescue drew massive criticism from lawmakers and economists alike who said that the mid-size bank’s collapse did not pose a threat to the economy.

According to LPS regulations, it must sell a bank three years after it is bailed out and at a price at least equal to the bailout amount. The deadline, however, can be extended for two years.

In the case of Bank Mutiara, if it cannot be sold at the right price by 2013, then the LPS would sell it at any price.

The agency said in May that it planned to complete the divestment of its shares in the re-branded Bank Mutiara by November. In July, nine investors expressed their interest, but only three followed up with offers.

Analysts have urged the government not to be too hasty in selling Bank Mutiara because it would be unlikely to recoup state funds used to bail out the troubled lender.

According to data from Bank Mutiara, the value of its assets surged 47 percent to Rp 12.57 trillion in the first half from a year earlier. The lender’s outstanding loans rose 46 percent to Rp 8.4 trillion.

Its gross non-performing loan ratio has improved significantly to 10.44 percent, down from 32.2 percent last year.

The industry average is around 5 percent to 10 percent.