The Jakarta-listed firm said on Thursday that the three units had obtained the revisions on Tuesday and would soon resume operations, as reported by industry news site Mining.com. They were granted an additional quota of around 15-20 million metric tons.
The subsidiaries, PT Tiwa Abadi, PT Tanur Jaya and PT Fajar Sakti Prima, had declared force majeure last Monday, when the quota revisions had not been issued.
Days after the declaration, a conditional agreement was inked for the sale of a 30% stake in Bayan by Low and his daughter to PT Jhonlin Baratama, a company controlled by fellow Indonesian tycoon Haji Isam Andi Syamsuddin Arsyad, who is also known as Haji Isam, according to financial data platform IDN Financials.
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Indonesian billionaire Low Tuck Kwong, founder and president director of PT Bayan Resources. Photo from SEAX Global’s website |
Haji Isam is one of the country’s most politically connected businessmen, and his conglomerate PT Jhonlin Group is a major thermal coal producer. The deal could pave the way for him to become one of the global coal industry’s biggest players, according to Bloomberg.
Details of the deal or the purchase price were not disclosed, though Haji Isam had offered US$3 billion in cash for a 62% Bayan stake earlier this month, which would value the entire firm at roughly $4.8 billion.
Bayan’s market capitalization stood at roughly Rp410 trillion (US$22.8 billion) after closing Thursday 0.6% higher.
Tri Winarno, minerals and coal director general at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, has dismissed speculation that delays in the permits for Bayan’s units were connected to sensitive corporate matters like the stake sale.
The delay was caused “solely by the need to complete documentation and meet detailed administrative requirements and evaluation,” he said, as quoted by The Jakarta Post.
Bayan was established in 2004 by Low, who was born in Singapore and moved to Indonesia in 1972, where he started a construction company before venturing into coal. The tycoon became an Indonesian citizen in 1992 and acquired his first coal concession in Kalimantan five years later.
Bayan’s coal output reached 32.9 million tons in the first half of this year, up from 27.7 million tons a year earlier.
Low is currently the richest individual in Indonesia, with Forbes estimating his net worth at $17.2 billion. He briefly lost the spot last week when Bayan’s shares plunged in the days following the force majeure announcement.