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fter being taken over by Sinarmas Group, publicly listed miner PT Berau Coal Energy is formulating a plan to repay loans amounting to US$950 million, a company executive has said.

Berau Coal'€™s independent director, Arief Wiedhartono, said the company was auditing its debt restructuring proposal and reviewing available options to trim the hefty debts, as lenders seek to liquidate the company through legal means.

Arief said the restructuring proposal was submitted by Asia Coal Energy Ventures (ACE), an investment vehicle funded by billionaire Eka Tjipta Widjaja of Sinarmas Group.

Sinarmas acquired Berau by taking over its parent company, London-listed Asia Resources Minerals (ARMS).

'€œCoal market is changing, we have to map out our future outlook,'€ he told reporters.

'€œWe are auditing our proposal and making five-year projections.'€

ACE acquired a 73 percent stake in ARMS '€” which holds a 85 percent stake in Berau '€” in mid year from a number of shareholders, including ARMS'€™ founder, British banking scion Nathaniel Rothschild and its former chairman, Indonesian businessman Samin Tan. Tan owned indirect stake through Austria'€™s Raiffeisen Bank International AG.

Rothschild initially planned to underwrite a $100 million equity raising to help ARMS renegotiate its debt and avoid a default, but the plan was derailed when Sinarmas stepped in and made its takeover offer. The financier now no longer has stakes in the London-listed firm.

During the acquisition process, ACE announced terms of a proposed notes restructuring, in which Berau Coal would pay a portion of the notes principal using $100 million of new equity proceeds raised at ARMS and $18.75 million of cash-on-hand.

The unpaid portion of the $450 million notes due July 8 and $500 million notes due March 13, 2017, issued by Berau, would then be exchanged for new notes maturing on July 31, 2019, and Dec. 31, 2020, respectively.

The proposed restructuring also aims to reduce the coupon on the new notes, comprising both a cash and payment-in-kind component.

Some rating agencies have defaulted the company'€™s bonds, and ACE and Berau are facing legal procedures to bankrupt them.

Raiffeisen Bank began court proceedings at a British Virgin Islands court in September, in a bid to liquidate ACE, arguing that the investment vehicle reneged on a $120 million loan-purchase signed in May.

ACE paid Raiffeisen Bank $50 million earlier this year to acquire soured loans whose collateral included, among other things, a 23.8 percent stake in ARMS, according to Bloomberg.

A Singapore court had imposed a moratorium on debt issued by a unit of Berau, giving it until Jan. 4 to negotiate with bondholders.