Possible payout for Tan over $1bn Bumi investment
POWERFUL Indonesian family the Bakrie brothers could offer coal tycoon Samin Tan compensation for his soured $1bn (£620m) investment in London-listed miner Bumi.
The move is the latest blow for troubled London-listed Bumi, which aimed to be the world’s biggest thermal coal exporter but may be left as a shell holding company with no operating assets if both Indonesian partners pull out.
No details were given on the size of the potential compensation.
Alexander Ramlie, chief executive of Tan’s coking coal miner PT Borneo Lumbung Energi that holds the Bumi stake, said he hoped the investment would be fully compensated and discussions were underway to dissolve the partnership.
“Yes, in principle, we believe they are in agreement to provide us with some financial compensation because otherwise we won’t agree to dissolve the partnership and they can’t fulfill their proposal to Bumi Plc,” Ramlie told a news conference in Jakarta. “So that’s the value that we have that the rest of minority shareholders in Bumi Plc don’t have, so they can’t expect to get the same value as us.”
“No agreement has yet been reached,” said a Bakrie spokesman.