Bumi sets vote date on bid to oust directors

Bumi today said it will vote on Nat Rothschild’s proposals to oust the majority of the board at an extraordinary general meeting on February 21.

Rothschild, the group’s co-founder who stepped down from the board last October after a dispute with Indonesia’s Bakrie family, wants investors to remove 12 of Bumi’s existing 14 directors.

But the Bumi board recommends shareholders vote down the proposal, arguing that it would result in “stalemate, continued shareholder disputes and further value destruction”. Bumi shares today fell 3.3% to 333p.

Bumi also today confirmed that Eko Budianto will become a director of key Bumi asset Berau Coal. Rothschild yesterday said Budianto was insufficiently independent.

Two of the current directors that Rothschild proposes to retain on the Bumi board —Steven Shapiro and Graham Hearne — have said they do not support the overhaul and would resign if it was passed.

Rothschild and the Bakrie family founded Bumi in 2010, bringing Indonesian resources assets to London. But the pair fell out, and Rothschild has complained about weak financial irregularities and weak corporate governance in Bumi’s overseas subsidiaries.

Rothschild owns 12% of the group’s shares while the Bakries control 24%.