Bakries say Bumi deal off if board goes
THE Bakrie family yesterday threatened to renege on its proposed divorce with Bumi if Nat Rothschild’s plans to re-install himself on the miner’s board are voted through.
Co-founder Rothschild last week called for a general meeting to overhaul the board.
The Bakrie family said they will use “all legal means” to honour the terms of the relationship agreement, which gives the powerful Indonesian family the right to appoint key Bumi positions.
The Bakries said yesterday that they would “seriously consider the withdrawal of its offer in the event that Rothschild wins support for his proposal to change the board or indeed if the company fails to honour all obligations under the relationship agreement”.
In response, Rothschild’s vehicle NR Investments took its shareholding in Bumi to more than 18 per cent as a sign of confidence in the company “once a new board has been elected”, calling the Bakrie threat “juvenile”.
A spokesperson for NRI said that the relationship agreement is between the board and the Bakries, and does not affect what shareholders can vote on at the meeting, and does not affect their ability to put in place a new board.