Berau Coal divestment deal not yet off: UT

JSX listed heavy equipment maker PT. United Tractors Tbk. (UT) said on Monday that the deal to sell its 60 percent stakes in coalminer PT. Berau Coal to PT. Intra Karsa Korporindo was legally off as the latter fail to meet commitments on the specified deadline.

?The deal is legally unbinding as Intra Karsa failed to keep its commitments, including financial commitment. But we are not yet called off the deal and we are still waiting for Intra Karsa to meet its commitments. We haven?t set specified deadline yet,? said Tjandrawati Waas, UT corporate secretary.

Meanwhile, PT Berau Coal president Jeffrey Mulyono said Intra Karsa had promised to meet its obligation this week.

Last week, Bisnis Indonesia daily quoted a source saying Intra Karsa failed to pay the initial payment of US$5 million for the purchase of Berau?s 60 percent stake which are all worth about US$45 million. The daily also quoted Tjandrawati setting last week as deadline for Intra Karsa to fulfill its commitments.

UT and Intra Karsa signed shares sale and purchase agreement in August this year.

UT is seeking to sell its entire stake in Berau Coal to meet its debt payment that will due late this year.

Berau Coal is an East Kalimantan based coal-mining firm, producing some 6.7 million tons of coal last year. (godang)