Nat Rothschild wants
to return to the board but the Bakrie family co-founders say they will
tear up a deal to withdraw from the mining group if he continues his
campaign. Photograph: Reuters
A date for the battle of Bumi has been set. Shareholders will
vote on Nat Rothschild's attempt to throw out the current board and
re-install himself plus six newcomers on 21 February. This soap opera,
an exciting tale of misadventure in the Indonesian coal mining
industry, will not end with the vote. But the outcome will decide who
has the right to try to clean up the mess - a returning Rothschild or
the current board, which argues that only it is capable of ensuring
divorce from the Bakrie family.
So, with the big event less than four weeks away, let's hope the Takeover Panel is working overtime. One of the sub-plots in this story is the panel's ruling that an undeclared concert party existed between the Bakries and a firm controlled by another Indonesian, Rosen Roeslani, at the time Vallar (as Bumi was then called) was doing its original deal in 2010. That ruling has dramatically altered voting rights on 21 February, increasing Rothschild's chance of success.
But, as Bumi's board keeps pointing out, the panel's work is not yet completed. As Tuesday's boardroom dispatch put it: "The board notes that the next stage of the Takeover Panel investigation will be to establish any culpability and appropriate disciplinary action, which the board assumes will include a focus on Vallar plc's principal adviser at that time, Vallar Advisers, which was led by Mr Rothschild."
It would be good to have this point cleared up before 21 February, as all parties would probably agree. Surely Bumi shareholders deserve to know before casting their vote whether or not Vallar Advisers faces censure.
Unfortunately, there's no obligation on the panel to make a speedy decision. The City's watchdog on mergers and acquisitions sees its primary task as making the right decision, which involves ensuring everyone has their say. Fair enough, in principle. In practice, everybody would benefit if it would just hurry up.
So, with the big event less than four weeks away, let's hope the Takeover Panel is working overtime. One of the sub-plots in this story is the panel's ruling that an undeclared concert party existed between the Bakries and a firm controlled by another Indonesian, Rosen Roeslani, at the time Vallar (as Bumi was then called) was doing its original deal in 2010. That ruling has dramatically altered voting rights on 21 February, increasing Rothschild's chance of success.
But, as Bumi's board keeps pointing out, the panel's work is not yet completed. As Tuesday's boardroom dispatch put it: "The board notes that the next stage of the Takeover Panel investigation will be to establish any culpability and appropriate disciplinary action, which the board assumes will include a focus on Vallar plc's principal adviser at that time, Vallar Advisers, which was led by Mr Rothschild."
It would be good to have this point cleared up before 21 February, as all parties would probably agree. Surely Bumi shareholders deserve to know before casting their vote whether or not Vallar Advisers faces censure.
Unfortunately, there's no obligation on the panel to make a speedy decision. The City's watchdog on mergers and acquisitions sees its primary task as making the right decision, which involves ensuring everyone has their say. Fair enough, in principle. In practice, everybody would benefit if it would just hurry up.
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