Indonesia’s richest man has begun selling small stakes in his listed companies as tighter ownership rules push firms to increase shares available to public investors.Billionaire Prajogo Pangestu sold a 0.56 per cent stake in coal and mining holding Petrindo Jaya Kreasi to boost the company’s free float, according to a stock exchange filing late Thursday. Prajogo-affiliated Green Era Energy this week also sold a fraction of its stake in his Barito Renewables Energy.Regulators are fast-tracking the changes ahead of a May deadline to avoid a potential downgrade to frontier market status by index compiler MSCI that could spur foreign outflows.The Indonesia Stock Exchange last week issued a regulation that requires listed companies to increase shares available for public trading – or free float – to 15 per cent, giving firms up to three years to achieve the level.Prajogo Pangestu is Indonesia’s richest person with a net worth of about US$35.2 billion. Photo: Barito PacificBarito Renewables, along with the Widjaja family’s Dian Swastatika Sentosa, was among nine firms the regulator singled out for concentrated ownership of more than 95 per cent, spurring sell-offs.“[Prajogo] might only want to follow the rules,” said Christopher Andre Benas, head of research at BCA Sekuritas. “We hope that other tycoons follow suit.”