Antam needs more time to complete due diligence on KPC

State diversified mining company PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (Antam) has asked the government for some more time to complete due diligence on East Kalimantan-based coal mining giant PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC), which had initially been planned to end on Oct 17, company president director Dedi Aditya Sumanagara said on Monday.

?We need some more time so as to ensure better evaluation over the company,? Dedi told reporters. But he did not say when the due diligence would have to end as they wanted.

Dedi said Antam?s due diligence team would report to him on Monday about what it had achieved so far.

The central government had offered to Antam and state coal miner PT Batubara (PTBA) 20 percent stake in KPC. It was part of the 51 percent shares of KPC which must be sold to Indonesian investors through the central government. The remaining 31 percent had been offered to East Kalimantan provincial administration.

Dedi declined to say from where his company would obtain funds to buy KPC shares. He said the share purchase plan would not disrupt Antam?s plan of constructing another ferronickel plant, Feni III, in Southeast Sulawesi which would be financed with funds from a consortium of German lenders.

Meanwhile, a senior government official said on Monday that the government team tasked with conducting due diligence on Antam and PTBA would likely announce its decision on Tuesday (Oct 15) on whether the companies could be allowed to buy KPC shares.

The secretary general of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Djoko Dharmono said the team had been evaluating the mining companies? financial and operational capability. (*)