Deals
London Parent’s Chop Evaded by Jakarta CEO in Tale of Two Cities
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Amir Sambodo says he’s in charge of PT Berau Coal Energy. London-listed parent Asia Resource Minerals Plc says he isn’t. Lawyers have been brought in, accusations are flying and a bond payment deadline is looming.
At the heart of the dispute is a 118,400 hectare mining concession in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. The coal-rich area almost half the size of the state of Rhode Island is a prized asset. ARMS shareholder and U.K. banking scion Nathaniel Rothschild wants to keep it, Indonesian interests want it in local hands.