Jardine C&C units to acquire Indonesian gold mining company for $693 million
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Arafura Surya Alam and Mulia Bumi Persada will become subsidiaries of Jardine Cycle & Carriage group.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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SINGAPORE – Jardine Cycle & Carriage (Jardine C&C) on Sept 15 announced that two of its indirect subsidiaries have entered into an agreement to buy Arafura Surya Alam (ASA) for an aggregate consideration of US$540 million (S$693 million).
Subsidiary Danusa Tambang Nusantara (DTN) will purchase 99.99 per cent of ASA’s total issued share capital from J Resources Nusantara (JRN), while Energia Prima Nusantara (EPN) will buy the remaining one share in ASA and one share of Mulia Bumi Persada (MBP) from Mr Jimmy Budiarto.
The MBP share represents about 0.2 per cent of its total issued share capital, with the remaining 99.8 per cent held by ASA. The two companies will now be indirect subsidiaries of the Jardine C&C group.
Both DTN and EPN are wholly owned subsidiaries of construction machinery and mining company United Tractors, which is listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). That company is a 59.5 per cent subsidiary of Astra International, also listed on the IDX, and a subsidiary of Jardine C&C.
Jardine C&C said the proposed acquisition aims to expand United Tractors’ business in the mineral sector.
Since its incorporation, ASA has been a non-operating company with non-meaningful financial information, said the bourse filing. It is intended to be a gold mining company and holds a mining business for the 4,000ha Doup mining block in the province of North Sulawesi, Indonesia.
The block holds 1.57 million ounces of gold reserve and 3.1 million ounces of gold resources. Its sole asset is the licence for the block, which is a brownfield site to be developed by United Tractors.
DTN acts as a holding company for United Tractors’ mineral business and is currently focused on expanding its business in gold and nickel. Meanwhile, EPN is the holding company for the development of renewable energy for United Tractors.
ASA’s enterprise value of US$540 million was determined after arm’s length negotiations, said the filing, and will be fully funded by internal resources of the United Tractors group.
Jardine C&C added that the acquisition is subject to approval from the regulator, creditors of JRN and ASA, as well as the shareholders of JRN parent company J Resources Asia Pasifik. The final date of the fulfilment of the conditions is to be no later than Dec 23, 2025.
The company’s shares rose 2.1 per cent, or 60 cents, to $29.28 on Sept 15. THE BUSINESS TIMES
