Shareholders of Indonesia's Bumi Resources, Asia's biggest thermal coal exporter, approved a crucial USD 1.3 billion debt for equity swap deal with China's sovereign wealth fund, CIC, even without the presence of its largest owner.
Only one-third of shareholders were required to approve the deal after the Indonesian company delayed a previous vote from December 20th.
Mr Andrew Beckham director of Bumi Resources said that "I hope the deal will be final before Chinese New Year, this month."
A collapse of the Chinese deal would have been disastrous for Bumi Resources, which has suffered downgrades from ratings agencies and faces a heavy debt burden even as coal prices remain soft.
ARM, formerly known as Bumi Plc, said that its participation in the vote would not be appropriate, since its stake in Bumi Resources should soon be transferred to the Bakrie Group as part of a complex separation of ARM from the influential Bakrie family that co-founded it in 2010.
Under the deal, the Bakrie family is to sell its stake in ARM to outgoing chairman Samin Tan and buy back ARM's stake in PT Bumi Resources as part of a plan to revive the London-listed company after it was battered by boardroom rows and weak coal prices.