The controlling shareholder in London-listed Indonesian coal miner Bumi, the Bakrie family, is to sell part of its stake to Jakarta businessman Samin Tan to relieve a family cash crunch. The Bakrie family were facing margin calls on a $1.4bn loan secured against the value of its Bumi stake after the shares fell almost 50% from their April peak. Bumi listed in London last year through a deal arranged by Nat Rothschild, scion of the banking family.
What the commentators said
The recent goings on “may not be quite what [Rothschild’s] backers bargained for”, said the FT. But investors who are familiar with the Bakries won’t be surprised; they hit similar trouble in late 2008, with a loan against several Jakarta-listed firms. At least the risk of a change of control is gone, but little else has changed. Jakarta business circles are small and Tan is a long-time Bakrie acquaintance. On the plus side, that means the buyer is friendly and the group’s all-important local contacts remain intact.