Miner Bumi delays vote on split after Tan misses deadline

LONDON (Reuters) - Coal miner Bumi Plc (LSE:BUMI) will postpone an investor vote on a planned split with Indonesia's Bakrie family that co-founded it, after the buyer of its stake failed to provide details of his financing arrangements by an agreed deadline.

Bumi said in a statement late on Wednesday that the buyer of the family's shares in London-listed Bumi - outgoing chairman and current Bakrie partner Samin Tan, who will hold 47.6 percent of the miner if the deal completes - had not met a November 20 deadline.

Tan had agreed to prove by Wednesday to Bumi's board that he has the finances in place - $223 million (£138.5 million) - to buy the family's shares. He has now been given until November 29.

Shareholders had been due to vote on the split with the Bakries on December 4. Bumi did not give a fresh date.

Bumi's management and its key Indonesian shareholders have been hammering out the details of a separation for months. Bumi said in a statement that it understood Tan had made "significant progress" in arranging the necessary funds.

But his failure to detail the arrangements by the agreed date is likely to raise fresh questions over financing troubles which could still undermine Bumi's split with the Bakries - a key move the company says will pave the way for a long-awaited overhaul and effort to refocus on its Berau coal asset.

Bumi said its independent directors "continue to believe that the separation represents the most attractive path forward available to the company", adding shareholder feedback since documents were published had confirmed support.

Not all responses have been positive, though, and shareholder advisory group PIRC on Tuesday said it recommended investors oppose the split, despite its attractions.

"There are clear merits of separating from the Bakrie group and the proposed return of cash will help to make the deal more appealing," PIRC said in its note to shareholders.

But it said shareholders were being asked to approve a deal "with many uncertainties".

Bumi was created in 2010 to bring Indonesian mining assets to London investors, but has struggled with feuding shareholders since its creation: the Bakries' relationship with their co-founder, financier Nat Rothschild, soured within months.

The split, if approved by investors, will see the Bakries sell their stake to Tan. The Bakries will then buy back London-listed Bumi's 29.2 percent stake in troubled Jakarta-listed unit PT Bumi (JKT:BUMI) for $501 million, above the market price.

At least $400 million of that is due to be distributed to shareholders, Bumi has said.

(Reporting by Clara Ferreira-Marques; editing by David Evans)