*UPDATE 1-Bakrie in talks to sell 35 pct of Bumi Resources-paper*
SINGAPORE, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Indonesian conglomerate Bakrie Group is in talks to sell a 35 percent stake in coal mining giant Bumi Resources after a sharp slump in stock prices triggered a margin call by its lenders, the Straits Times on Saturday quoted sources as saying. Bakrie, which is controlled by the family of Indonesia's chief social welfare minister Aburizal Bakrie, had pledged part of Bumi Resources and two other companies as collateral for loans amounting to about $1 billion, the Singapore paper said. "The family must make a $500 million top-up payment by Oct 14 as a result of the declines in the share prices," a source in Jakarta said, according to Straits Times. Straits Times said Bakrie owned the money to a consortium of Indonesian and foreign banks. Bumi is Indonesia's largest coal producer, and would be a prized asset. Indonesia's Investor Daily newspaper quoted Bakrie, who was ranked earlier this year by Globe Magazine as the country's richest man with total wealth of $9.2 billion, as saying the family might sell shares in Bumi. "The Bakrie family maybe will not hold the majority of shares or not hold any shares. But the shares of Bumi remain good and will be normal again next year," Bakrie was quoted as saying in the paper. According to Bisnis Indonesia newspaper, Indonesia's state enterprises minister Sofyan Djalil said on Friday the government could allow state-owned mining firms PT Aneka Tambang Tbk and PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam to acquire Bumi shares. The paper also said Erry Firmansyah, president of Indonesia's stock exchange, would meet Bumi's management on Monday. Citing unidentified banking sources, the Straits Times said the Bakrie family had held talks with several of Indonesia's top corporate groups and tycoons, including Tommy Winata and Putera Sampoerna, as well as U.S. investment firm Avenue Capital. But the paper said the process was being complicated by Indonesia's decision to close its stock market for a third day on Friday in a bid to avoid the global sell-off in equity markets. The Jakarta Stock Exchange on Tuesday suspended trading in shares of six firms controlled by the Bakrie family, including Bumi Resources and Bakrie & Brothers At that stage, Bumi Resources had a market value of around US$4.4 billion. Authorities subsequently suspended trading of all Indonesian shares beginning on Wednesday. An official said late this week it was hoped trading would resume on Monday. Bakrie & Brothers said on Wednesday there had been no forced sales of shares in its subsidiaries that had been pledged as collateral and it still controlled these shares. A Bakrie senior executive, Dileep Srivastava, told the Straits Times the group had not defaulted on any loan, adding it was confident of meeting all of its prospective obligations. He also said he was not aware of any intention by the group to sell Bumi Resources shares, the paper said on Saturday. Shares of Bakrie and Bumi have lost about 50 percent of their value in the last month alone as worries about a global recession deepened. (Additional reporting by Telly Nathalia in Jakarta) (Reporting by Kevin Lim; Editing by Kim Coghill) EDD Keywords: BAKRIE BUMI/ [EMAIL PROTECTED] ak COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News. MMMM NIY72-11Oct08 07:26 GMT
