T

he battle for control of the country'€™s largest coal producer PT Bumi Resources took a few steps forward after its biggest shareholder London listed Bumi plc announced on Friday that a meeting would be held next month to vote on the planned buyback of the coal miner by the influential Bakrie family.

Bumi plc, which currently holds a 29.2 percent stake in Bumi Resources, will hold the awaited shareholder meeting on Dec. 4, when shareholders can vote on whether they approve a takeover proposal submitted by Bakrie Group. A circular outlining package of Bakrie Group'€™s separation proposal has been delivered.

'€œWe are pleased to present this comprehensive package to the shareholders, which, if approved, will isolate the company from the influence of the Bakrie Group and put the company in a strong position moving forward,'€ Julian Horn-Smith, senior independent director of Bumi plc and chairman of the independent committee of the board, said in a written statement.

Bakrie Group, which is comprised of Jakarta listed PT Bakrie & Brothers and its related entity Long Haul Holdings Limited, holds a 23.8 percent stake in Bumi plc. Under its proposal, Bakrie Group is planning to purchase Bumi plc'€™s stake in Bumi Resources for US$501 million.

Along with the planned purchase, Bakrie Group will also sell its 23.8 percent stake in Bumi plc to Ravenwood Pte. Ltd., which is controlled by Indonesian tycoon Samin Tan, for $223 million. Currently, Samin Tan has control in Bumi plc through its coking coal company PT Borneo Lumbung Energi & Metal, which holds a 23.8 percent share in the London company. Should the plan go ahead, Samin'€™s Borneo and Ravenwood would together control 47.6 percent of Bumi plc.

Bakrie Group'€™s takeover plan and stake selling to Ravenwood would depend on each other.

'€œThe separation includes these two key interlinked elements because the company [Bumi plc] understands that the Bakrie Group'€™s funding for the acquisition of the 29.2 percent interest in Bumi Resources relies on the sale of its entire indirect interest in the company to RACL [Ravenwood'€™s entity conducting the purchase],'€ Bumi plc said in its circular to shareholders.

Given its planned purchase of Bumi Resources and planned sale of its stake in Bumi plc, Bakrie Group will officially exit its London journey, which was started in 2010 when it struck a deal with British financier Nathaniel Rothschild to develop coal mining group together. The Bakries and Rothschild'€™s relations have soured following governance issue, which has led to the separation proposal.

Speaking in London, Bumi plc chief executive officer Nick von Schirnding said that his company had no assurance whether the Bakrie Group could support the transaction.

'€œObviously it would'€™ve been our clear preference to have the monies in escrow, but clearly these are challenging times for the acquirers of the stake and these are challenging times for the coal business. We have not had proof of funding. We have no visibility on any of their funding,'€ von Schirnding said as quoted by Bloomberg.

Commenting to the funding availability, Bakrie Group senior vice president Chris Fong said that the $278 million needed to buy back Bumi Resources has been in place since January 2013.

Bumi plc is also proposing to change its name into Asia Resource Minerals plc.

Apart from the separation plan, Bumi plc also said that it has commenced arbitration proceedings against Rosan Roeslani, the former president director of PT Berau Coal Energy, in which the London company owns an 84.7 percent stake.

The legal move, according to Bumi plc, is taken after Rosan failed to meet to transfer or procure the initial transfer amounting to $30 million, which is part of the agreed cash and assets worth $173 million to be transferred to Berau, before Sept. 26. Bumi plc recently secured commitment from Rosan that he would transfer a total of $173 million to compensate missing funds during his leadership in Berau.

Rosan couldn'€™t be reached for comment on Friday.