Nat Rothschild could bid for Indonesian miner Asia Resource Minerals
Asia Resource, which was previously known as Bumi, needs to pay down some of its $950m (£635m) debts by July or risk going bust
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Your support makes all the difference.The long-running battle over the control of Asia Resource Minerals has taken another turn after the financier Nat Rothschild indicated he might table an offer to buy out the Indonesian coal- mining firm he helped bring to the London market five years ago.
Plans for an emergency meeting to approve a refinancing of the business, which was due to take place this week, have now been postponed after the group received two rival bid approaches.
Asia Resource, which was previously known as Bumi, needs to pay down some of its $950m (£635m) debts by July or risk going bust.
However, last week minority shareholders Argyle Street Management and the Indonesian conglomerate Sinarmas Group said they were considering a bid for the whole group, but only if shareholders voted against the refinancing plans. These plans include a $100m-share offer that is being underwritten by Mr Rothschild’s NR Holdings.
Their offer could be about £210m; however, the consortium has yet to make a formal approach.
Mr Rothschild’s investment vehicle NR Holdings has meanwhile teamed up with Suek, Russia’s biggest coal-mining group, to launch a rival bid – which is also unpriced. NR Holdings said yesterday that any offer would be conditional on the refinancing being voted through by investors.
Mr Rothschild co-founded the London-listed Bumi in 2010 with Indonesia’s politically influential Bakrie family, before an acrimonious boardroom bust-up. The company changed its name in 2013 after it severed links with the Bakries.
The outcome of the latest battle is expected to be determined by Standard Chartered and Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank, which control nearly half of the company’s equity after its former chief executive, the Indonesian businessman Samin Tan, defaulted on loan payments to the two banks.
Shares in Asia Resource closed up 30 per cent at 37.25p, getting closer to the 41p a share deal that is expected to emerge should either side formalise their offers.
NR Holdings now has a month to decide to make a formal offer or walk away. A new shareholder meeting is expected to be set up within the next 10 days.
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