Rothschild under growing threat of Bumi coup

The Indonesian shareholders of the London-listed Bumi are confident they can shake up the miner's board and remove co-chairman Nat Rothschild before creating the world's biggest coal firm, one major investor, Samin Tan, said yesterday.

Mr Tan and Indonesia's Bakrie Group, who together own 29.9 per cent of the voting rights in Bumi, said last Friday they were seeking to oust the financier and otherkey directors. They require more than 50 per cent approval from shareholders. "We are very confident, otherwise we wouldn't have done what we have done, because we believe we have the vision to help beautify the asset," Mr Tan told Reuters, adding he had already talked to some institutional shareholders. Shares in Bumi fell 3 per cent on Mr Tan's comments.