PT BA to acquire entire shares in coalminer Multi Harapan later this month

State owned coal mining company PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam (PT BA) hopes its plan to take over the entire stake of coalminer PT Multi Harapan Utama (MHU) could be finalized later this month, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Tuesday.

"We hope the sale and purchase agreement (SPA) of PT Multi Harapan Utama's 100 percent could be finalized by the end of this month," PT BA's president director Ismet Harmaini, was quoted as saying.

Ismet said that PT BA was still waiting for the company's 2004 audited financial report and quarterly report for March 2005 before the signing of the SPA agreement.

The signing of the SPA for the acquisition of PT MHU's 100 percent shares has been delayed since September, last year, because of the delay in the issuance of the company's audited financial reports and the shareholders' agreement over PT BA's takeover plan.

MHU, partly owned by New Hope Group of Australia, Risjad Group and PT Asminco Bara Utama, operates a coal mine in Busang, East Kalimantan. The company's Busang coal mine is estimated to have 126 million tons of coal deposits.(*)