ACE raises cash offer for ARMS

By Ruli Setiawan

Asia Coal Energy Ventures Ltd (ACE), which is backed up by Indonesian Sinarmas Group, has raised its takeover offer of LSE-listed coal miner Asia Resource Minerals plc (ARMS) by about 37 percent, the latter company said.

ARMS said in a statement Monday that ACE has increased its cash offer for ARMS to 56 pence per share, from previous offer of 41 pence.

The statement said that Nathaniel Rothschild, which currently owns 17.2 percent shares of ARMS, has agreed to accept the ACE cash offer.

The latest development makes Sinarmas? ambition to acquire ARMS, which is the parent of IDX-listed coal miner PT Berau Coal Energy Tbk, to come closer. Rothschild previously was competing with ACE.

?ACE has revised the ACE Cash Offer to 56p per ARMS ordinary share (from a previous level of 41p per ARMS Share) and that it has obtained an irrevocable undertaking from NRH and Nathaniel Rothschild to accept the ACE Cash Offer in respect of ARMS shares owned by them (representing approximately 17.2% of ARMS shares) and to not oppose (and if eligible to do so, vote in favor of) a resolution to be put to independent shareholders of ARMS under rule 16 of the Takeover Code at a general meeting of ARMS shareholders convened for the purposes of the ACE Cash Offer,? the ARMS statement said.

The general meeting of ARMS shareholders is expected to take place at the end of June.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak