PTBA prepares to acquire Kalimantan coal mines

Petromindo

IDX-listed coal mining giant PT Bukit Asam Tbk (PTBA) is currently conducting due diligence on a number of coal mining firms in Kalimantan which have reserves of more than 200 million tons, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Tuesday.

PTBA Finance Director Achmad Sudarto was quoted as saying by the paper that the company wants to acquire the coal mines in a bid to help increase its coal reserves, currently stand at around 3.4 billion tons.

Achmad acknowledged that the company is not the only one interested in the mines. He added that it would be quite tough to reach agreement to value the acquisition targets as PTBA wants the value based on current coal price, while the sellers want the value to be based on future coal price.

He said that PTBA will acquire directly mines with huge reserves, while acquisition of mines with reserves of less than 100 million tons will be carried out by its subsidiaries. (*)