New Bumi cash call proposed
THE NEWEST major investor in Bumi, the FTSE 250 miner, will use a visit to London this week to propose raising more cash to spend some $2bn (£1.27bn) on developing mining assets, City A.M. has learned.
Samin Tan, the Indonesian tycoon who owns 23.8 per cent of Bumi through his mining company Borneo Lumbung, will spend part of this week doing the rounds among City investors to talk about a proposed shake-up of Bumi’s board. Tan, the Bakrie Group and Recapital – all Indonesian shareholders – want to remove Nat Rothschild as Bumi’s co-chairman.
But it is understood that Tan will also discuss his hopes of raising more money to accelerate the development of three major assets belonging to Bumi Resources Mineral, which is part-owned by Bumi Plc.
He wants to bring several mines online as fast as possible, going from exploration to production in 18 months to two years rather than the current three-to-four year timetable.
Altogether, it could cost up to $2bn, though it is not yet clear what portion of the cash call would target Bumi investors. One source suggested that they could well be sceptical given Bumi’s debt load and the row over Rothschild’s chairmanship.
The assets Tan wants to develop are understood to be Dairi Prima Mineral, a zinc mine, and two copper and goldmines, Gorontalo Minerals and Citra Palu Minerals. The Bakrie Group is supportive of the scheme.