Indonesia's Bakries propose end to London adventure

LONDON (REUTERS) - Indonesia's powerful Bakrie family has proposed a parting of ways with London-listed coal conglomerate Bumi, the group they co-founded with financier Nathaniel Rothschild, offering to take back the Indonesian assets they brought less than two years ago.

The proposal, made as directors gathered at a board meeting in Singapore on Thursday, comes after more than a year of tensions among Bumi shareholders and after tempers frayed again last month, when the London group announced a probe into potential wrongdoing at its Indonesian operations, including Bumi Resources, the jewel in the Bakrie crown.

"For the Bakries, they will do anything to defend Bumi Resources," said a source close to the Indonesian family who was aware of the proposal.

Details in a statement from Bumi outline a separation that would eventually leave the London firm, whose shares have tumbled since its re-listing last year, without operating assets, and back at square one as an investment shell.