Dianlia to seek legal protection in dispute with Beckkett

Dianlia Setyamukti, a major shareholder of coal giant PT Adaro Indonesia, will seek a legal protection from the Supreme Court in dealing with a share ownership dispute with Beckett, the other shareholder of the mining company, Dianlia's president director Edwin Soeryadjaya said as reported by Bisnis Indonesia daily on Thursday.

Beckett, in a notice published recently on Bisnis Indonesia, said that the sales of Adaro's shares by Deutsche Bank to Dianlia Setyamukti was legally fault because the sales was carried out without the consent of the actual share owners.

In another notice published by the same newspaper, Dianlia through its legal advisor Amir Syamduddin and Partners, challenged Beckett's announcement, saying that Beckett's claim was a personal opinion of the company because it was not backed by a court's decision.

The dispute began in October, 1997 when PT Asminco Bara Utama, a subsidiary of Beckkett, secured loan worth US$100 million from Deutsche Bank in Singapore. Beckkett which acted as the guarantor of the loan used its shares in Adaro to guarantee the loan. Deutsche Bank then sold the Adaro shares after Asminco defaulted on the loan payment. (*)