Newmont Nusa Tenggara to divest 7% this year

Copper and gold firm PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT) will offer another 7 percent stake in a divestment program this year.

?We shall offer (the stake) by March 31 and our target is (that the divestment process) is to be completed in ten days,? company president director Martiono Hadianto said on Monday.

He said the price of the stake will be higher compared to the price of the stakes offered in the previous divestment amid the rise in the price of the commodity.

Under its contract of works, the firm is obliged to sell up to 51 percent of its stake to either Indonesian government, state owned enterprises or Indonesian-controlled firms. PT Multicapital, which is linked to the Bakrie Group, set up a joint venture with the West Nusa Tenggara regional governments PT Multi Daerah Bersaing (MDB) to buy a 24 percent stake in the firm. NNT operates a huge copper and gold mine in West Nusa Tenggara province.

Martiono said MDB has proposed Kenneth Ferrel, a senior executive of the Bakrie group as a member of the board of directors of NNT. (Bernard)