Antam expects to relinquish control of Canadian unit by Q3: Report
Monday, June 3 2002 - 08:44 AM WIB
"If, by Sept 30, the deal hasn't been executed, then the agreement will cease," Antam investor relations manager Cameron Tough was quoted by the newswires as saying.
He said the parties are in the process of appointing a financial advisor to conduct due diligence to value the IAR assets to be returned to Antam, and to ensure IAR has not signed any other contracts to sell those assets to other parties.
Antam last month signed a binding deal to surrender CA$10.8 million shares in IAR and clear the company's debt to Antam.
In return, IAR agreed to give back to Antam its 99.99 percent Indonesian-held operating unit, PT Antam Resourcindo, which runs the gold and silver Cikidang underground mine in West Java and holds 11 tenements to conduct gold exploration.
Antam had transferred these assets to IAR in 1997 as part of a cashless deal to acquire the 81.9 percent stake in IAR, which is listed on Vancouver's TSX Venture Exchange.
Tough said Antam Resourcindo, which is currently IAR's only source of revenue, has a market value of CA$5.4-5.7 million.
In addition, Antam will receive liquid assets valued at around CA$660,411.
The deal is subject to due diligence by Antam, approval by Antam's shareholders and an independent committee of IAR's board of directors, and 'related party transaction' approval from the TSX Venture Exchange.
Antam is looking to relinquish control of IAR following difficulties in raising money for exploration projects through the Vancouver stock exchange.
IAR has about CA$1.4 million in cash and reported a nine months to September 2001 net loss of CA$322,409 compared to a net loss of 559,033 in the previous corresponding period.
Antam is 65 percent-owned by the Indonesian government. (*)