Government likely to purchase Newmont?s share

The government voiced its interest in purchasing a seven percent stake in copper and gold miner PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT).

 

State Minister for State-owned Enterprises Sofyan Djalil said in Jakarta on Wednesday that the central government may directly buy the stake directly or through state owned enterprises. 

 

In March 2007, Newmont officially offered a 7 percent stake in NNT to the government. This followed an offer by the company for the government  to buy a 3 percent stake last year. Since the government turned down the offer, Newmont then offered the stake to the local governments in West Nusa Tenggara, where NNT operates. The local governments also turned down the offer, that the firm recently announced that it would offer the 3 percent stake to Indonesian private companies or state owned enterprises. 

 

Sofyan said the government has given a greenlight for state owned companies, including miner PT.Aneka Tambang, to bid for Newmont's shares.

 

Under the contract of work (COW), NNT, which operates a huge copper and gold mine in Batu Hijau, West Sumbawa, has to divest up to 51 percent of its stake to either the Indonesian government, regional government, state owned companies or Indonesian-controlled companies after several years of production.

 

Current NNT’s shareholders are Newmont Mining Corp (45 percent), local company PT Pukuafu Indah (PI) which controls 20 percent and a consortium led by ’s Sumitomo (35 percent). (godang)