West Nusa Tenggara govt offers $400m for 7% Newmont shares

The local administration of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) province has formally submitted its offer to buy another 7 percent stake in copper and gold miner PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT), which will be sold by the company?s foreign shareholders as part of the mandatory divestment program for 2010 period.

The NTB vice governor Badril Munir said that the local administration?s bid was US$400 million lower than the US$440 million proposed by Newmont.

Like in the previous divestment, the NTB government would team up with PT Bumi Resource?s subsidiary Multicapital to buy Newmont?s 7 percent shares.

Under the contract of work that NNT signed with the government in 1986, NTT should divest 31 percent of its shares to local investors. A 3 percent of its stake should be divested in 2006, 7 percent each in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.

The NTB government and Multicapital have acquired all the 24 percent of the shares that have to be divested until 2009. NTT is currently offering the remaining 7 percent which has to be divested this year. (*)