Rothschild sees 'Bumi Plc' producing 140 m tons of coal per year

Bumi Plc, a new entity formed by the United Kingdom's Vallar Plc, Indonesia's Bumi Resources and Berau Coal Energy, is expected to produce 140 million tons of coal per year by 2013, a top executive has said.

Nathaniel Rothschild, co-founder of Vallar Plc, which just announced the acquisition of Bumi and Berau in a $3 billion cash and share swap deal, said the deal would create a top thermal coal supplier to China, the world's second-largest economy.

"We've announced the creation of an Indonesian coal champion that is going to be the largest supplier of thermal coal to China," Nathaniel said in London via teleconference with reporters in Jakarta. (est)