Bumi delays vote on separation from Bakrie Group

By Ruli Setiawan

London-listed coal mining company Bumi Plc said on Thursday it has decided to delay a planned vote for the separation from the Bakrie Group after Indonesian mining tycoon Samin Tan failed to report the source of funds to finance the purchase of 23.8 percent of Bumi?s shares from Bakrie by the November 20 deadline.

Bumi Plc said in its website to investors that because Samin?s Ravenwood Acquisition Company Ltd (RACL) has failed to disclose the funding scheme, the mining group could not hold a vote on the proposed separation from the Bakrie Group at the upcoming December 4 general shareholders meeting as earlier planned. Bumi said it was giving RACL a new November 29 deadline.

Meanwhile, Bakrie Group spokesman Chris Fong was quoted by the Kontan daily as saying Friday that the failure by Samin to unveil the funding scheme would not hamper the planned separation process, under which Bumi Plc will sell its 29 percent shares in IDX-listed coal giant PT Bumi Resources Tbk, and in return Bakrie will sell its 23.8 percent shares in Bumi Plc to RACL.

Bumi was formed in 2010 to bring Indonesian coal assets to London investors. However, boardroom fights between the co-founders, Nathaniel Rothschild and the Bakries, ensued in the following years amid falling coal prices and question over corporate governance at Indonesia-listed PT Bumi Resources Tbk, in which Bumi has 29.2 percent interest, the Indonesian largest coal miner and the jewel asset of the Bakries.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak