Yessar Rosendar

Indonesia Exchange Tells Bumi to Explain Newmont Money Further

The Indonesia Stock Exchange has demanded more information from PT Bumi Resources regarding the use of the company’s bank account to pay for a 10 percent stake in miner PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara, saying it was not satisfied by the company’s previous explanation.

“The letter [sent by Bumi] has not answered the substantial question about the money,” and where it came from, Eddy Sugito, a director at the bourse, also known as the IDX, said on Friday.

Eddy said he had notified Bumi that the IDX would require further explanation.

On Thursday, Bumi claimed in a letter to the IDX that it was not a party to the purchase of the $391 million NTT stake even though Bumi subsidiary PT Multicapital, of which it said it “indirectly” owned “more than” 99 percent, was a member of the joint venture that made the purchase. Moreover, Bumi’s Singapore bank account was used to transfer the money directly to the bank accounts of Newmont shareholders in New York and Japan.

Without disclosing the details of the source of the money, the letter also claimed the transaction was not large enough to be material and therefore did not breach the bourse’s regulations.

Speaking to the Jakarta Globe on Friday, PT BNI Sekuritas analyst Norico Gaman said the transaction could have breached capital market regulations on material transactions if its value exceeded 10 percent of Bumi’s total revenue or 20 percent of its equity at the time of the transaction.

Bumi has not posted third-quarter results. However, in 2008, the company had $3.4 billion in revenue and $2.1 billion of equity, meaning the transaction would have been material if conducted last year, Norico said.

“The problem is, the money is coming from Bumi’s account, and if it’s material, then the company should ask for an approval from the shareholders first,” he said.

Norico said the transaction would not be considered material if the money was merely loaned to Multicapital to purchase the Newmont stake. However, Bumi should have informed the market in either case, he said.

Bumi representatives were not available for comment on Friday.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported on Friday that the highly leveraged company had sold $300 million of seven-year convertible bonds, citing a person familiar with the issue.

The 5 percent notes have a conversion premium of 30 percent, said the source, who declined to be named. Credit Suisse Group AG managed the sale, the source said. The company last sold bonds on Nov. 2, when it raised $300 million from fixed-rate seven-year bonds, Bloomberg data said. The notes with yields of 12 percent were 8.94 percentage points higher than similarly maturing US government debt.

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