We assume that the Bumi survivalists, led by Sir Julian Horn-Smith, never really expected Nat Rothschild to just retire from the scene after suffering defeat in the boardroom power struggle.
And so it has proved. Rothschild is still a subscriber to the Jakata Post and he’s noticed a curious item — the allegedly late disclosure of the sale of a stake in a subsidiary to what is reportedly a Bakrie family entity. Read more
Presented without comment (well just a little bit).
Bumi Plc statement, Monday: Read more
The Indonesian investors in coal miner Bumi have said UK financier Nat Rothschild can stay on the company’s board, but only if he steps down as co-chairman and stops being a “disruptive influence” over his calls for a shake-up at PT Bumi Resources, a Bumi affiliate, reports the FT. The investors, the Bakrie family and their partner Samin Tan, announced on Tuesday that they had withdrawn their demand for an extraordinary general meeting to remove Mr Rothschild and other directors from the Bumi board. They say they will now pursue their proposed changes at a board meeting scheduled for March 26.
The Indonesian shareholders in coal miner Bumi are open to a compromise that would see financier Nat Rothschild stand down as co-chairman of the company but remain on its board, the FT says, citing people familiar with the matter. Publicly, however, the shareholders – the businessman Samin Tan and the Bakrie family – are insisting on pushing through their proposal to drop Mr Rothschild and will launch a charm offensive next week to persuade others to back them. Chris Fong, a spokesman for the Bakrie family, justified the move against Mr Rothschild by describing him as the “financial engineer” who listed Bumi in London but was no longer needed as co-chairman. “We value him for bringing us to London, introducing us to the market, but we realise we need to be here and we can’t leave that to Nat,” Mr Fong said in an interview. Read more
We can’t let this Bumi RNS go unnoticed:
The Company announces that the Directors have received a notice from Borneo Bumi Energi & Metal Pte. Ltd, being the holder of not less than 5 percent of the paid-up voting share capital of the Company, requiring them, pursuant to section 303 of the Companies Act 2006, to convene a general meeting of the Company to consider and if thought fit to pass ordinary resolutions to: Read more
Vallares, Tony Hayward’s new investment vehicle, sounded out the Financial Services Authority about its $2.1bn deal to buy Genel Energy, the FT reports, to alleviate any corporate governance concerns. Rodney Chase, the non-executive chairman of the newly enlarged Vallares, which is expected to enter the FTSE 100, said he had talked to the FSA about the make-up of the board. Mehmet Sepil, Genel’s chief executive, was fined £967,000 ($1.5m) by the FSA last year for “market abuse” after buying shares in London-quoted Heritage Oil on the back of a positive drilling report before it had been released to the market. Read more
Vallar, the cash shell founded by financier Nathaniel Rothschild, will pay $3bn in a complex deal that will see Rothschild acquire stakes in two large Indonesia coal companies – PT Bumi Resources and PT Berau Coal Energy, and will involve a UK listing for the interests of Indonesia’s wealthy Bakrie family, reports the FT. A new company combining the assets of the two Indonesian groups and Vallar shares will be listed in London as Bumi Plc. Trading in Vallar shares, which raised £700m in a public flotation in July, will be suspended. FT Alphaville draws parallels between the Vallar deal and the formation of Anglo-Swiss miner Xstrata. Read more
Nathaniel Rothschild announced plans last week to raise £600m by listing a “cash shell” called Vallar on the London market to fund acquisitions in the metals and mining industry, reports the FT. Rothschild’s move came just four months after entrepreneur Hugh Osmond raised £417.7m for his Horizon Acquisition Company, which intends to buy a single company; stoking interest in a potential cash shell comeback. Read more
August 11, 2009
Dear Investor in Atticus Global, Ltd. and Atticus Global, LP: Read more
A letter to the Times (since transmuted into a front page story):
Sir, Since your paper – along with your sister publication The Sunday Times – has made much out of what may or may not have happened at a private gathering of my friends this summer in Corfu, I thought I should make the following observations. I am surprised that you focus on the fact that one of my guests, Peter Mandelson, is a friend of another, Oleg Deripaska. Not once in the acres of coverage did you mention that George Osborne, who also accepted my hospitality, found the opportunity of meeting with Mr Deripaska so good that he invited the Conservatives’ fundraiser Andrew Feldman, who was staying nearby, to accompany him on to Mr Deripaska’s boat to solicit a donation. Since Mr Deripaska is not a British citizen, it was suggested by Mr Feldman, in a subsequent conversation at which Mr Deripaska was not present, that the donation was “channelled” through one of Mr Deripaska’s British companies. Mr Deripaska declined to make any donation. I mention this because it turns out that your obsession with Mr Mandelson is trivial in light of Mr Osborne’s actions. I also think it ill behoves all political parties to try and make capital at the expense of another in such circumstances. Perhaps in future it would be better if all involved accepted the age-old adage that private parties are just that. Read more
1Bernanke weighs in on robot wars; brings Keynes for backup
2About China's capacity to absorb more capital
3Secret liquidity and Scottish independence
4Japan's mini crash: Blame China, not just Ben
5Spain's awful unemployment
Show more6Pump up, debase
7S&P 2,100, by Goldman Sachs
8Everlasting credit, the long view
9Buyback to enrich
10Measure it however you like: inflation has been low and falling
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