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umi plc, the majority owner of Indonesia'€™s two biggest coal miners, has postponed the Bakrie family'€™s exit from the company after company chairman Samin Tan, who is buying the Bakrie'€™s stake in Bumi, failed to show financing ability.

In an announcement released early on Thursday, Bumi plc said the sale of the Bakrie stake in Bumi to the company'€™s chairman was being put off because the required financing was not in place.

Bumi plc said its independent directors had agreed with the Bakrie Group to offer Samin a new deadline to prove his funding ability of Nov. 29.

The Bakrie Group planned to sell their 23.8 percent stake in Bumi to Samin for US$223 million. Samin, who will carry out the transaction through his vehicle firm called RACL, was initially required to prove that he had secured financing for the purchase by Nov. 20. If the deal goes ahead, Tan'€™s ownership in Bumi will double to 48 percent.

Assurances from RACL are necessary as its plan to purchase the Bumi stake is interlinked with the Bakrie Group'€™s plan to exit the London-listed firm.

Under the plan, the Bakries will sell their stake to RACL and then purchase the London firm'€™s entire 29.2 percent stake in Bumi Resources, one of its two Indonesian mining units. The total transaction is worth $501 million, of which $223 million will come from RACL.

'€œThe company [Bumi plc] understands that significant progress has been made by RACL in arranging its financing. However, because the company has not received the necessary financing agreement(s) or arrangement(s) ['€¦] it is not possible for the company to proceed with the separation on the timetable previously communicated to shareholders,'€ Bumi plc said.

The company said an extraordinary general meeting, scheduled for Dec. 4 to seek approval from shareholders on the separation, would be adjourned.

Samin could not be reached for comment on Thursday. In a statement cited by Bloomberg, Samin said on Wednesday that he had secured funding to acquire the Bakrie Group'€™s stake in Bumi plc, but the lending agreement remained in draft form and was '€œsubject to inclusion of a couple of commercial terms'€.

Prior to RACL'€™s investment plan, Samin was a savior for the Bakrie Group as it struggled to settle its debts. Samin agreed in late-2011, via PT Borneo Lumbung Energi & Metal, to purchase the Bakrie Group'€™s 23.8 percent in Bumi plc for $1 billion.

The Bakrie Group, which comprises Jakarta-listed PT Bakrie & Brothers and its related entity,
Long Haul Holdings Ltd., tabled its separation proposal in late-2012 following a disagreement with
significant shareholder Nathaniel Rothschild.

The Bakrie Group and Rothschild were previously friendly partners who struck a deal in 2010 to develop Bumi plc, with Bumi Resources as one of two main assets. Their relationship soured, however, in 2011 over allegations of, among other things, poor corporate governance and financial misconduct.

The Bakrie Group has said it already had the remaining $278 million needed to finance its takeover of Bumi Resources. Senior vice president Christopher Fong said the money has been available since January 2013.

The group has also put $50 million in an escrow account by way of its commitment to completing the separation; money that it will lose it if the plan is canceled.

'€œWe have no intention of losing the $50 million break fee; we don'€™t see this postponement impacting our plan to separate from Bumi plc,'€ Fong said via an email on Thursday.