Bakrie-backed energy group Persada calls off rights issue
AN INDONESIAN energy firm with ties to the Bakries has called off its controversial rights issue that it had planned to fund an oil field takeover, citing market volatility.
Energi Mega Persada (EMP) has delayed its shareholder vote on the plan indefinitely, the Jakarta-listed firm said in a statement yesterday.
The company, in which the Bakrie family owns a minority stake, had called an investor meeting on
3 September to vote on the $225m (£144m) plan, but had already delayed it until 17 September.
EMP was hoping to use the proceeds of the rights issue to buy out the rest of EMP International, which owns oil and gas fields off the coast of Java.
CIM Investment Management, a London-based firm that represents a 7.7 per cent stake in EMP, wrote to the Jakarta Stock Exchange last month asking it to investigate a possible conflict of interest.
CIM claimed that the Bakries also had a stake in Densel Holdings, the parent firm behind the company selling the 49 per cent share of EMP International.
The Bakrie family has been embroiled in a prolonged dispute in London over the fate of Bumi, the Indonesian-focused miner that listed in London in 2010.
Nat Rothschild, who helped the firm join the UK stock market, has clashed with the Bakries about the best way to split the company in two. Bumi was relegated from the FTSE 250 this week.