Gold vs US Dollar

Register for streaming realtime charts, analysis tools, and prices.

Get Started

Bumi Investors - BUMI

Share Name	Share Symbol	Market	Stock Type
Bumi	BUMI	London	Ordinary Share

	Price Change	Price Change %	Share Price	Last Trade
	0.00	0.00%	235.00	01:00:00

Open Price	Low Price	High Price	Close Price	Previous Close
			235.00	235.00

more quote information »

Top Investor Posts

Top Posts
Posted at 06/11/2013 08:43 by lucky_punter FCA clamps down on majority owners By Jamie Nimmo The City watchdog has laid out a new set of rules that will give minority shareholders more protection and say in important corporate decisions. The Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) updated listing rules are aimed at smaller investors in premium-listed companies, London's blue chips, and are designed to end a run of damaging governance rows. Read Full Thread Reply
Posted at 10/7/2013 16:53 by tamboerskloof Bumi Plc (BUMI), the Indonesian coal producer at the centre of an ownership dispute, is close to completing a deal valued at more than $500 million to sever its ties with co-founders the Bakrie Group after relations soured. Bumi, noting recent press reports, said it's near an accord to sell 29.2 percent of PT Bumi Resources to one of Indonesia's wealthiest families as part of a nine-month-old plan to unwind an investment. At the same time, a group controlled by Bumi Chairman Samin Tan is in talks with the Bakries to buy their 23.8 percent of London-listed Bumi, it said in a statement. A deal would mark the end of an almost two-year affiliation with the Bakries, a family-owned palm oil-to-property empire founded in Sumatra in 1942. They co-founded the company in a $3 billion venture with Nathaniel Rothschild which started to sour last year amid board infighting, a slump in coal prices and financial probes in the U.K. and Indonesia, the biggest exporter of power station coal. Bumi and the Bakries first announced a proposal to sever ties in October. Talks continue and the "economic terms remain consistent" with the original plan with the Bakries paying more than $500 million in cash, Bumi said today. Rothschild Responds Rothschild, who owns about 15 percent of the company, said he won't support the proposal to separate the group from the Bakries. In e-mailed comments to Bloomberg News he claims Bumi Chief Executive Officer Nick von Schirnding has misled investors into believing the terms of the October proposal were fixed. "We were led to believe by the board that the original proposal was fixed in stone and in reality we've been led up the garden path one more time and this time the minority investors can block it, should block it and demand a transaction that we thought was fixed," Rothschild said in a phone interview. Bumi has been at the heart of a battle for control betweenRothschild, scion of a centuries-old British banking dynasty, and the Bakries with both making rival proposals to unwind the deal. Bumi, which slumped 69 percent in London last year, has been suspended from London trading since April. Selling its stake in PT Bumi would leave the company with an 85 percent holding in PT Berau Coal Energy, Indonesia's fifth-largest exporter of energy coal. Two-stage Plan As part of a two-stage plan, the Bakries are in talks with Tan, Bumi's chairman, to sell him their entire 23.8 percent holding in London-listed Bumi, people familiar with the plan told Bloomberg this week. That would double his holding to 47.6 percent. Tan's PT Borneo Lumbung Energi & Metal has made a cash offer and talks are continuing, the Bakrie Group said today in an e-mailed statement. "A total cash alternative adds weight to the unwinding process, and we hope minority shareholders will share this view," the group said in the statement. The offer is value accretive to Bumi and shareholders, it said. The Bakries would use the funds from the sale to buy their holding in Bumi Resources (BUMI), Indonesia's largest coal exporter, which they sold to Bumi Plc in 2011, for $508 million, the people said. This is the interesting bit--------- Bumi is considering returning the funds to its shareholders as a special dividend, one of the people said------------- Rothschild today proposed that the Bakrie's stake be offered to existing shareholders rather than sold to Tan who could then underwrite the offer and be free to buy any stock not taken up, Rothschild's NR Investments Ltd. said in a statement. The revised separation proposal deprives investors of upside "just when thermal coal fundamentals are starting to improve," according to the statement. Bumi today said it has been made aware of talks between the Bakries and PT Borneo (BORN) affiliate Lumbung Energi & Metal about Borneo buying the Bakries' Bumi stake. Such a deal would be conditional on Bumi selling its Bumi Resources stake to the Bakries, it said. A condition of a purchase by Borneo of the Bakries' stake in Bumi is that the London-based company's independent shareholders waive the requirement for Borneo Lumbung to make a general offer, Bumi said. Bumi directors affiliated with Borneo Lumbung have recused themselves from the process, and the separation transactions are being studied by an independent committee of the board, it said. Read Full Thread Reply
Posted at 24/5/2013 13:31 by roddyb At the end of the day, it is an asset owner and that part of the world has to burn coal. Once the irregularities of management are addressed, and I am assuming that is the exercise taking place now, then we start having a normal company again. The market thought it was worth £4 in the EGM run up? If, after this horrible news blackout, we the investors are told that the funds missing are not £48m but actually £500m due to ongoing contracts and potential fraud, then I am with you - we will be bull whipped. Read Full Thread Reply
Posted at 22/4/2013 09:44 by tamboerskloof 22 April 2013 For Immediate Release Bumi plc ("Bumi" or "the Company") Bumi plc requests temporary share suspension pending finalisation of results On 12 April 2013 Bumi announced that further work with regard to the completion of its financial results for 2012, and in particular a review of the integrity of a number of items on the balance sheet of its subsidiary PT Berau Coal Energy Tbk, was continuing and that as a result there was a likelihood that the publication of these results would need to be delayed beyond 24 April 2013. It is now clear that Bumi will not be able to publish audited full year results before the end of April 2013, being the latest time permissible under the UK's Disclosure and Transparency Rules. After consultation with the UK Listing Authority, Bumi has requested that trading in its shares be temporarily suspended with effect from 07:30 today until the publication of these results. Bumi expects that this suspension will be lifted on publication of results. The Company's priority and focus is the production of results at the earliest possible date in May. The new management team at Berau is overseeing a full audit review and, as previously announced, certain expenditures relating to hauling roads and land compensation payments in 2012 will not be capitalised and will be treated as costs. No significant additional issues have been identified to date. Berau management is now fully verifying all existing material contracts and has an action plan in place to complete this review allowing publication of audited results. The team is working closely with PwC, its auditors, as well as with Ernst & Young, hired as consultants to provide expertise and resources to expedite the process in order to ensure that all legacy issues are identified and disclosed. This review is not expected to have any impact on on-going operations. The mines continue to perform in line with expectations and a number of cost-saving initiatives, in particular a significant reduction in strip ratios, are already yielding results. The separation from the Bakrie Group and Bumi Resources is on track and a circular will be sent to shareholders to approve this transaction as soon as possible. In addition, the process of appointing a new independent chairman is well advanced and a number of candidates have been interviewed. Nick von Schirnding, chief executive of Bumi, said, "We are taking all necessary steps to create a clean and transparent company with a balance sheet in which investors can have confidence. Verifying the balance sheet is a necessary step to rebuild investor trust and to achieve that a temporary suspension in trading is required. It is critical that Bumi is able to draw a line under any historic issues before we move ahead with our clear strategy for value optimisation focused on Berau. " -Ends- Read Full Thread Reply
Posted at 23/1/2013 11:02 by ashthorpedo Tuesday 22 January, 2013 NR Investments Ltd Statement by NR Investments RNS Number : 1314W NR Investments Limited 22 January 2013 NR Investments ("NRI") responds to apparently co-ordinated announcements made today by Bumi PLC and by Long Haul Holdings and the Bakrie Group of Companies; expresses disappointment at the Company's failure to publish the Macfarlanes Report into misappropriation of shareholder assets; details the urgent, unanswered questions facing the Company and its Chairman; challenges the Company's legal position re disclosure of Macfarlanes' findings; and deals with the issue of liability It is regrettable that an investigation into the serious misappropriation of corporate assets has resulted in a short, bowdlerised announcement by Bumi PLC which is focused more on settling personal scores with Nat Rothschild than it is on telling shareholders what happened to up to $1 billion of missing funds. Today's announcement from Bumi PLC is hopelessly compromised by the Board's failure to publish in full the Macfarlanes investigation into serious financial irregularities at the Company. Even so, it cannot avoid acknowledging that corporate funds have been looted out of Bumi in large volumes. Despite all attempts by Bumi's Board to throw dust in the eyes of the investing public, that finding is decisive. It makes Samin Tan's position as Chairman of Bumi PLC untenable. Only last weekend he described himself as a "friend" of the Bakries. He has been officially classified a concert party partner of theirs by the Takeover Panel. He and other friends of the Bakries must resign from the Board immediately. Below, we set out matters which point to ongoing malfeasance whilst Samin Tan has been Chairman of Bumi PLC. We also set out many pressing questions left unanswered by the redacted, truncated and censored format in which Macfarlanes' findings have been published today. The failure of Bumi PLC to provide answers to these questions, having earlier promised full disclosure, is intolerable. The Company's claim that it is prevented by legal constraints from telling investors what happened to their stolen money is wrong, as we also explain below. Earlier today, NR Investments revealed that Bumi PLC's Chief Executive Officer Nick Von Shirnding had removed claimed professional qualifications from his website biography after NR Investments identified serious and material inaccuracies. Sir Julian Horn-Smith, Senior Independent Director and Chairman of Bumi PLC's Nominations Committee, has confirmed that Nick von Schirnding is not a qualified lawyer and does not hold an accounting qualification, which tends to support the argument that investors were misled. Assertions about von Schirnding's qualities are rendered meaningless by the initial over-statement of qualifications. We have proposed replacing Bumi PLC's hopelessly compromised leadership with a new, professional Board and management, and in the light of today's findings the forthcoming General Meeting vote cannot come soon enough. Investors face a choice at the General Meeting. The current Board is proposing the effective liquidation of the Company by a Chairman who is looking to reclaim large amounts of his own money from the Bakrie Group. We are proposing a restructured Company with new management and proper governance arrangements, in possession of world-class thermal coal assets. We hope that investors will take the latter course. Unanswered questions Bumi PLC claims in its announcement today that it has been unable to access the information it requires from Bumi Resources, its 29.2%-owned associate company, fully to investigate claims of widespread embezzlement. This is a surrender on the part of the Bumi PLC Board, which has not fully pursued or exhausted the legal and the practical options which should be available to it as Bumi Resources' principal shareholder to seek to compel disclosure. Bumi PLC's position on this point is doubly unacceptable, since certain PLC Board members are central to any proper investigation of what went on at Bumi Resources. The Company acknowledges that it has made better progress in investigating financial impropriety at Berau, but stops short of disclosing what Macfarlanes has uncovered. Today's statement also hints that it might not pursue lines in inquiry relating to Berau, since to do so might carry "associated costs and risks". Without further explanation, this position is again unacceptable - not least since it comes from a Board some of whose members are potentially implicated in the wrongdoing. The overwhelming impression is that the Board has neither the will nor the wit for this task, but shareholders need not give up hope of recovering their money. We have written to the Company on behalf of minority investors demanding that Bumi PLC produce an uncensored copy of the final Macfarlanes report, all communications between the Company and Macfarlanes relating to the form and content of the report, and all information relating to the public disclosure of material from the investigation. In order to restore public and investor confidence in the integrity of the investigation, NRI has also suggested that Bumi PLC, in consultation with minority investors, appoints a suitably senior independent lawyer to review expeditiously all relevant matters pertaining to the investigation and report. It is impossible for a Board chaired by Samin Tan, the Bakries' concert party associate, to sit in judgement on the activities of the Bakries, Tan and their associates. Samin Tan The issue of the Chairman's role is barely mentioned in today's announcement from Bumi PLC, but the evidence submitted to Macfarlanes should have presented him with more than enough questions to warrant his immediate resignation. The document leaked to Nat Rothschild by a whistleblower in September 2012 and passed by him to the Board was a due diligence report commissioned by Samin Tan before he invested in Bumi. The report refers to numerous related party transactions at Bumi Resources and Berau used apparently as means of diverting funds from the Company. In other words, Samin Tan knew about financial irregularities involving the Bumi PLC group before he joined the Board, yet in his role as Chairman did nothing about it. This calls into question compliance with his legal and fiduciary duties as a UK PLC Director. What is more, destruction of shareholder value at Bumi appears to have increased after Samin Tan joined the Board: · On the day of his appointment the Bumi PLC share price was 697 pence. Yesterday it was 331 pence, a fall of 53 per cent while Bumi PLC was under Samin Tan's Chairmanship · Under his Chairmanship of Bumi PLC and as President Commissioner of Bumi Resources, a 30% stake in the infrastructure assets were transferred in June 2012 for $1 from Bumi Resources to Tata Power. Samin Tan personally authorized this transfer of assets · On two occasions in May and October 2012 Samin Tan, as President Director of Bumi Resources Minerals, extended loans of $110million via UOB bank to Bakrie entities collateralised against part of the December 2010 Bumi Resources Minerals IPO proceeds · At the Bumi PLC AGM in May, Samin Tan gave the impression that he had installed his people to positions of influence at Bumi Resources and Berau. The reality is that his people had been side-lined by Bakrie and Roeslani, and had little if any influence in the day to day management of these entities. He also failed to investigate claims made by his recently installed CFO at Bumi Resources, Stefan White, regarding financial irregularities in relation to capital expenditure at the Pendopo coal project · Samin Tan had full knowledge, but did nothing about, the Chateau $75million "investment", the non-commercial marketing agreements at Berau, and the Velodrome consulting agreement (paying some $2m a month for undefined consultancy services), all revealed in the whistleblower documentation · Samin Tan failed to disclose an arrangement that he had agreed with the Bakries, whereby any "leakage" from the group companies to Bakrie entities would be restructured so that Tan was not disadvantaged. However, their arrangement did not extend to the minority shareholders of Bumi PLC and Bumi Resources. Bumi PLC is in possession of substantial evidence to verify these claims, much of which is already in the public domain. Under Samin Tan's leadership, the Company appears not to be actively investigating. The decision not to disclose details of the Macfarlanes report and the admissibility of evidence The Company claims that it is unable to substantiate many allegations of financial and other irregularities owing to a lack of access to the original source of the materials provided to the Company (the whistleblower). The Company further claims that it is unable to release the detail of the Macfarlanes report due to the unacceptable legal risks that exist (primarily in Indonesia) as a result of the undisclosed provenance of these materials and that, allegedly, the materials were obtained illegally through email hacking. We are inviting the Company to advise precisely which Indonesian laws it believes prevent it from publishing any part of the Report, but as the initial recipient of the whistleblower's evidence, Nat Rothschild has a duty of care to protect the whistleblower's anonymity, as enshrined in Lord Woolf's 2008 report into business ethics. The same whistleblower protection, and fundamental public interest in finding out what happened to missing shareholder funds, more than justifies the evidence (and its publication) under UK law. The key whistleblower document, as mentioned above, is a due diligence report that Samin Tan himself commissioned before investing in Bumi, and which appears to provides detail of financial and other irregularities, including the diverting of shareholder funds through numerous related party transactions. In the spirit of cooperating fully with the Macfarlanes investigation, Mr Tan should provide shareholders with a copy of this report immediately. As also mentioned above, we are also calling on Bumi PLC to put the Macfarlanes report in the hands of a legal expert who will be able to reassure investors by taking an independent view as to the admissibility of the evidence and the findings, and to what extent they can be published. It is worth noting, in the meantime, that Bumi PLC's reluctance to publish the Macfarlanes report is even less justifiable given that the Company has anyway been selectively leaking the report's findings over recent weeks, as only a cursory glance at recent press coverage amply proves. To that extent, the Company's attack on Nat Rothschild today for allegedly leaking evidence is hypocritical, as well as a further attempt to distract investors from the central issue - namely the misappropriation of shareholders' funds. Liability issues Any suggestion from Bumi's Directors that Nat Rothschild is to blame for the transgressions that have occurred in Bumi PLC brings buck-passing to a new level. Today's speculation from Bumi PLC that the UK Takeover Panel might somehow hold Nat responsible for the undeclared concert-party activities of Tan and the Bakries - rather than Tan and the Bakries themselves - is the height of absurdity. Nat has worked tirelessly to highlight embezzlement at Bumi, and the Macfarlanes investigation would not have happened without him. As soon as he became aware of financial irregularities at Bumi PLC in November 20101, Nat made the Board and the investing public aware of his concerns. He has also expressed regret at going into business with the Bakries in the first place. In contrast, other founders of the Company - notably Julian Horn-Smith and Lord Renwick - have never admitted they were at fault. Lord Renwick was vice-chairman of JP Morgan Cazenove, which advised on the formation of Bumi PLC in November 2010, having already brought Berau to public markets earlier in 2010 - and which earned more than $30m in fees for its advisory work, which was supposed to include due diligence. Julian Horn-Smith, meanwhile, chaired Vallar at the time Bumi PLC was put together. Contrary to the suggestion made by the Company in today's announcement, it was the Vallar Board led by Julian Horn-Smith that approved Bumi PLC's formation, not Vallar Advisers. Absurdly, Lord Renwick and Julian Horn-Smith both still sit on the Board of Bumi PLC, and neither has ever condemned the Bakries. The folly of their position is glaringly illustrated by today's findings. Statement by Long Haul Holdings and the Bakrie Group of Companies We note the statement issued by the Bakrie interests this afternoon. It is tempting to comment on the irony of their claim that they have "co-operated with the Macfarlanes report" when even the very limited statement issued by Bumi PLC today makes clear that it was unable to access key information relating to the Bakrie-controlled Bumi Resources. However, all parties agree that the key priority for Bumi PLC is to dissolve the Bakries' involvement in the Company, and their opinions on other matters can safely be ignored. The Bakries' threat to remain in occupation of the Bumi PLC register if they do not get their way is juvenile in the extreme. As we have pointed out before, threatening minority shareholders is not the right way to win their support in a British proxy vote - particularly when the Bakries' shares in the PLC are, in any case, held as security against their debts by their lenders. It is well known that the Bakries have significant outstanding borrowings, and owe $550m against their Bumi PLC shares. Their creditors will decide what happens to their shares, and we look forward to negotiating with those creditors in due course. Read Full Thread Reply
Posted at 15/1/2013 17:49 by hightower3 Rothschild ups stake in bid to remove Bumi board Tue 15 Jan 2013 Rothschild ups stake in bid to remove Bumi board LONDON (SHARECAST) - Financier Nathaniel Rothschild has bought 16m pounds-worth of shares in Indonesian miner Bumi as he ups the ante ahead of a battle to overhaul the company's board. The deal to buy 5.2m more shares raises Rothschild's voting stake from 14.8% to 18.2%. Last week the Bumi co-founder called for a vote to replace 12 of the company's 14 board members and to reinstall himself as a director. His long-standing complaint is the board has failed to protect the rights of minority shareholders. Rothschild has the support of Bumi investors Taube Hodson Stonex Partners, Schroders and Sofaer Capital, who between them own 8.1% of the firm. The company's Chairman, Samin Tan, who is also one of its biggest investors, said he would fly to London to convince investors the current board would best serve the company. The company is currently waiting for the results of an investigation into "potential financial irregularities" at its Indonesian subsidiary, PT Bumi Resources. MM Read Full Thread Reply
Posted at 04/1/2013 13:33 by hightower3 Freshfields could face scrutiny over advice on 2010 Bumi deal 4 January 2013 \| By James Swift Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer could be dragged into an investigation of the deal that created the controversial multibillion coal group Bumi. Bumi's Indonesian investors and its co-founder Nat Rothschild, who helped bring the company to London, have been locked in a vicious and public dispute over governance of the company since the autumn of 2012. In September, Macfarlanes was brought in to look at alleged financial irregularities at Indonesian subsidiary PT Bumi Resources amidst a drop in the company's share price. Following a request from Bumi, the UK Takeover Panel looked into the 2010 deal that created the company. In its December report, the panel found that Indonesian investors the Bakrie family and Rosan Roeslani (through his company Bukit Mutiara) were acting in concert when their coal companies combined with Vallar - which later became Bumi - and so must cap the voting rights on their combined 57 per cent stake to under 30 per cent. click here Under Takeover Panel rules, investors owning 30 per cent or more of a company must, subject to a waiver, make a general offer for the whole of the company. The Takeover Panel added that it is separately "undertaking an investigation into why it was not previously made aware of the existence of the concert party, and why a Rule 9 waiver was not sought in relation to the transactions". It is a move that could bring Freshfields, which acted as legal adviser to Vallar at the time with corporate partner Julian Makin leading a team including partners Ben Spiers, Stephen Hewes and Claire Wills, into the spotlight. Following the report by the Takeover Panel, the Bakrie brothers have been quoted in the national press as blaming Rothschild for failing to disclose the relationship. A source close to Nat Rothschild's NR Investments, however, is reported to have said that the board of Vallar "approved the acquisition in November 2010, on the basis of advice from its legal and financial advisers, who led all interactions with the Takeover Panel on behalf of the Vallar plc board ... [which] was not made aware of any concert party issues." A source close to the case told The Lawyer that it was likely that the financial advisers would come under more scrutiny than the legal advisers. Vallar's financial adviser for the 2010 deal was JPMorgan. Freshfields declined to comment. The news comes as the shareholder war at Bumi continues to rage, with the Bakrie brothers and Rothschild submitting their own plans to shareholders as to how the collaboration should be unwound. Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) and Clifford Chance have taken key advisory roles on this. BLP litigation partner Graham Shear, corporate finance partner Benjamin Lee and Singapore head Alistair Duffield are all understood to be advising Indonesian family the Bakrie Brothers, who own 23.8 per cent of Bumi. BLP is advising Bakrie & Brothers on its general strategy, as well as on regulatory and contentious matters. The firm is also advising the company on its proposals to sell its stake in Bumi in return for several key mines, and on questions from the UK Takeover Panel. Freshfields partner Hewes, meanwhile, is understood to still be advising Bumi on current matters, while Clifford Chance partners Jeremy Sandelson and Roger Leese are acting for Bumi Resources. Gibson Dunn & Crutcher is understood to be advising Nat Rothschild, though the firm would not comment on which partners are acting. Read Full Thread Reply
Posted at 15/12/2012 08:16 by hightower3 December 14, 2012 7:40 pm Investors await next twist in Bumi saga By John Aglionby Investors in Bumi plc expected this to be a big week for the miner blighted by a vicious shareholder war over corporate governance at its Indonesian holdings. And this prediction proved correct although not exactly as forecast. Attention for weeks has been focused on a report by Macfarlanes into alleged financial irregularities at Bumi Resources and Berau Coal Energy, the Indonesian coal mining companies in which Bumi plc owns stakes of 29 per cent and 85 per cent respectively. Investors hoped the board would release its findings into the two Jakarta-listed companies, and thus shed light on the business practices of Indonesia's powerful Bakrie family, which controls Bumi Resources and owns 23.8 per cent of the plc. But no report emerged and the board said it was still unfinished. Conspiracy theorists were, however, satisfied by confirmation of Bakrie claims that information on which the report is based was obtained by theft or hacking emails and that some of the documents had then been doctored. The directors also ensured that infighting will continue, probably for months, by rejecting a reorganisation proposal by financier Nat Rothschild, who founded Bumi in 2011, in favour of one the Bakries proposed. An incensed Mr Rothschild has vowed to fight on to purge the company of its prominent Indonesian shareholders, including promising to replace the Bumi plc board if he proves triumphant. The next step in the saga should nothing can be guaranteed with Bumi be determined by another player, the UK Takeover Panel, which is studying whether Bumi plc's Indonesian shareholders are concert parties. Analysts are giving up trying to predict the next twist. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2012. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web. Read Full Thread Reply
Posted at 16/10/2012 17:58 by pixi Whether one regards it as raping the Earth or fuelling the future, mining is always a rough old game for those involved and sometimes for investors, too. Last week the Bakries said they wanted to buy back the mines in return for giving back their 23.8% stake in Bumi as well as cash in a deal worth £930m. This equates to about £4.80 per share, less than half the £10 a share at which the firm listed. Some analysts reckon the deal would enable Bumi investors, whose shares fell 90 per cent before the offer became public, to get out of a big mess with some cash. Rothschild, who owns about 12% and who declined to comment, is understood to believe the Bakries are trying to buy the assets on the cheap. It is all a sad end to a venture that promised investors they would get their money back 'two or three times' over. However, the collision of Western corporate governance standards and the freebooting world of mining is often troubled. Whatever the outcome of the report and of the Bakries' efforts, the affair has given investors one more reason to look warily at overseas mining ventures and complex company structures. It has also severely tarnished Rothschild's reputation for good judgement, a blot that many believe will take some time to fade away, The Financial Mail on Sunday says. Thanks guys for all your advice. I bought in at £1.60 for the long-term and I'm sticking with it! I'll leave it to the big boys to fight it out: if I can get £5, I'll be quite happy! . Read Full Thread Reply
Posted at 22/3/2012 15:31 by cupra kid Bakries Poised to Prevail in Bumi Dispute JAKARTA-Indonesia's billionaire Bakrie family is known for rarely backing down from or losing a challenge. Now it appears to be getting what it wants yet again. On Monday the board members of London-listed Bumi PLC, one of the world's largest coal mining companies controlled in part by the Bakries, are expected to approve changes in the Bumi board and management along the lines of what the Bakrie family demanded last month in response to a long-festering dispute with Bumi's main European investor, financier Nat Rothschild. Under terms of the deal, the Bakries would recede somewhat from center stage at the company, with one of the family's brothers, Indra Bakrie, stepping down as chairman. He would be replaced by Samin Tan, another Indonesian coal magnate, while Mr. Rothschild would relinquish his slot as co-chairman. While Indonesian investors had to back off demands that Mr. Rothschild leave the board altogether and that the reshuffle be decided through an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders, they expect to get almost everything else they requested, including at new chief executive and chief financial officer for the company, when the Bumi board meets in London. Even if the changes are approved-as representatives of the Bakrie family and people familiar with the thinking of Mr. Rothschild and his allies expect-it remains to be seen whether the new structure will satisfy shareholders. The stock has plunged 18% since Indonesian investors called for the changes last month, after Mr. Rothschild criticized the company's corporate governance in a letter leaked to the press in November. But if the changes do go through and gain the support of investors, it could be an important turning point for the Bakries-and in some ways for Indonesia, which has suffered in past years from concerns that some of its companies lack transparency. Indeed, corporate governance concerns are nothing new for the Bakrie family, which is among the most important business clans in Indonesia at a time when the country is emerging as one of Asia's newest investment darlings. Some analysts and investors have long been skeptical of the Bakrie group businesses and even refused to buy or cover stocks in its listed entities. They speak of a "Bakrie discount" on Bakrie-related shares meaning they are given lower valuations than shares in similar companies because some investors don't trust their disclosures. The emergence of Mr. Tan as a replacement for Indra Bakrie could help, analysts say, as he is known as a rising star in Indonesia's business community and is expected to fiercely protect his interest after he invested $1 billion last year for a 23% stake in Bumi. A former career accountant, Mr. Tan's fortunes skyrocketed in the past five years, making him one of Indonesia's newest billionaires after he developed what is now Indonesia's largest coking coal mine in Borneo. The Bakrie family is happy to cede some control to Mr. Tan and expects the new board and management structure to calm the concerns of investors, according to people familiar with their thinking. It could also help boost the Bakries' standing in international business circles. That was the original intention of the London listing. After the family listed their Indonesian coal assets through a reverse takeover deal with Mr. Rothschild in 2011, the Bakries held a banquet in Jakarta to celebrate with the theme "Putting Indonesia on the World Map." "We are taking the Bakrie brand global because we want Indonesia to stand out in the international market and we have the world-class assets and competitiveness to do so," Nirwan Bakrie, chairman of the Bakrie Group, told The Wall Street Journal last month. Started in 1942 by Achmad Bakrie, the Bakrie family business started as a trading company and expanded into steel pipe manufacturing. It later moved into plantations, telecommunications, banking and other businesses, though it lost many of them in the Asian financial crisis. Under the leadership of Achmad Bakrie's three sons, Aburizal, Nirwan and Indra, the group clawed its way back to encompass some of Indonesia's biggest companies in property, infrastructure, and other sectors. Its PT Visi Media Asia has one of the highest-rated news broadcasts in the country while Bakrieland Development is developing a huge tract of land in downtown Jakarta with a popular mall. It has a Bakrie University campus and a 50-story onyx Bakrie Tower, home of its Jakarta-listed holding company Bakrie & Brothers. The family also owns soccer clubs. Eldest son Aburizal Bakrie is tipped by polls as one of the leading candidates to become Indonesia's next president in 2014 as head of one of the country's biggest political parties. While Aburizal is no longer directly involved with the management of any of the group companies, analysts say the political clout he brings helps the group get things done. The family's biggest assets, though, are in coal. Mines controlled by Bakrie companies produced close to 70 million tons of coal last year with more than 10 billion tons of resources. Although Bakrie family wealth is estimated to be in the billions, analysts say it is hard to measure due to the complexity of the family holdings. "This is not your typical family business," said Lanang Trihardian, senior investment analyst Syailendra Capital, a $400 million fund. "Despite all the noise about them, nobody really knows how the companies are run." The family's mining assets were wrapped into Bumi PLC, which was formed in the reverse takeover deal with Mr. Rothschild in 2010 and then listed on the London Stock Exchange. The Bakrie family wound up with a 47% stake but only 30% of the voting shares. The Bakries later sold half of their position to Mr. Tan's company PT Borneo Lumbung Energi & Metal to pay debts. If having the proactive Mr. Tan at the helm of Bumi eventually eases investor concerns about the company's governance, it could send Bumi's shares higher, analysts say. The Bakrie family's original decision to join with Mr. Rothschild and other international investors in London was driven partly by a desire to reduce governance concerns. The hope was that by listing Bakrie mines in London and giving up some management control it could get a higher valuation for its coal. "We have a unique opportunity to raise the bar in the development of this company," said Mr. Rothschild last year. "Our London domicile will not only give us access to competitive capital markets but it will also provide us with increased transparency to our mining business." Two months later, though, Mr. Rothschild questioned his Indonesian partners' corporate governance in a letter leaked to the media. Then last month, Indonesian investors moved to oust Mr. Rothschild and shuffle the board, setting the drama in motion. Mr. Tan now says he wants to restructure and streamline the structure of Bumi's holdings by combining its assets and businesses a move that could further cheer investors. Read Full Thread Reply

Delayed Upgrade Clock

Support: +44 (0) 203 8794 460 | support@advfn.com

By accessing the services available at ADVFN you are agreeing to be bound by ADVFN's Terms & Conditions