Divestment obligation remains in place for NNT

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Sudirman Said stated that the divestment obligation of gold and copper giant PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT) remains in place despite change in the ownership of the company.

?The divestment obligation remains attached,? he said as reported by Bisnis Indonesia on Thursday.

IDX-listed energy company PT Medco Energi Internasional Tbk announced late last month it has agreed to acquire PT Amman Mineral Internasional (AMI), which controls 82.2 percent shares of NNT, which operates the Batu Hijau mine in West Nusa Tenggara Province. The agreement was made after NNT?s former controlling shareholders Newmont Corp and Sumitomo reached agreement to sell their shares to AMI.

Minister of Finance Bambang Brodjonegoro said earlier that the government won?t have any objection if Medco wants to acquire the 7 percent shares that NNT must divest to local investors as part of mandatory divestment program.

According to existing regulation, NNT must first offer the 7 percent shares to the central government. If the central government declines to take the offer, the shares must then be offered to local governments, followed by state-owned and local government-owned companies, and lastly Indonesian private investors. (*)