Mugi Rekso Abadi is an Indonesian holding company with units in magazine publishing, luxury retail brands, hotels and restaurants, radio stations, and automotive companies. Founded in 1993, MRA Group is based in Jakarta.
History and founders
In 1993, MRA was founded by Soetikno Soedarjo, Adiguna Sutowo and Dian Muljadi Soedarjo. It came after Adiguna and Soetikno, with an investment of 8 billion rupiah, had in 1992 launched their first lifestyle and entertainment enterprise, Jakarta Hard Rock Cafe. The idea came from a conversation between Adiguna, Soetikno and Meuthia Kasim. Once MRA was established as a holding company, Soetikno later invested in a broadcast media division, creating Hard Rock FM Jakarta, followed by Hard Rock FM Bandung, and Hard Rock Radio Bali, i-Radio, MTV Radio, O Channel, and IP Entertainment. MRA also expanded into lifestyle magazines, imported luxury cars and restaurants. MRA's website states: "Leading the drive at MRA are energetic, dedicated executives, exemplified by Adiguna Sutowo & Soetikno Soedarjo. They embody the character of an excellent young management team: a sense of intelligent restlessness, they are on the move and look forward to new products, new concepts and fresh horizons." Adiguna was in 2005 sentenced to seven years in jail for murdering a waiter at Jakarta Hilton International hotel, and Soetikno was in 2020 sentenced to six years in jail for bribery. In January 2017, Adiguna's son, Maulana Indraguna Sutowo, was appointed chief executive officer to replace Soetikno, who had been named a corruption suspect.
Soetikno Soedarjo launched an Indonesian version of Cosmopolitan Magazine in August 1997. Indonesian versions of other international lifestyle magazines followed, although several ceased their print editions in 2017.
MRA Group had a magazine distribution unit within the circulation department of PT Higina Alhadin, the publisher of Cosmopolitan Indonesia. It functioned to distribute publications owned by MRA Group. In 2003, the circulation department became a limited corporation called PT Citra Distribusi Mandiri, which distributed publications owned by MRA and other publishers.
Broadcast media
MRA Group's first media unit was Hard Rock FM, established in 1996. The success of Hard Rock FM led to the creation of I-Radio and TRAX FM, followed by Cosmopolitan FM in 2005. In 2004, Soetikno was a co-founder of television network O Channel and MRA Group held a 50% stake, which in 2007 was sold to Emtek. MRA Group's radio station subsidiaries include:
MRA has brought some of world's top luxury car brands to Indonesia, but high government taxes on luxury vehicles and an unfavorable exchange rate have resulted in the importing licenses for some brands not being renewed.
Current brands
Ferrari: Ferrari Jakarta was established in 2001 and is the official distributor for Ferrari in Indonesia.
Previous brands
Harley Davidson: PT Mabua Harley-Davidson was founded on 13 June 1997 as part of MRA. The sole dealer of Harley-Davidson motorcycles in Indonesia, its agency license expired on 31 December 2015 and was not renewed because of the weakening of the rupiah and government tax increases.
Maserati: Maserati was introduced to Indonesia in 2001, initially under the same company as Ferrari. From 2012, Maserati Indonesia was run by MRA subsidiary PT Tiara Cahaya Otomotif as importer and PT Citra Gemilang Otomotif as authorized dealer. In 2014, Maserati appointed PT Auto Trisula Indonesia as its new partner for Indonesia.
Abarth: Since 2013, the Abarth sales license in Indonesia was held by PT Parama Unggul Automotive and MRA Group subsidiary PT Genta Surya Automotive. The license expired in January 2016 and was not renewed, but the Abarth showroom on Jalan Fatmawati in South Jakarta continued to offer services.
