Indonesia-focus coal miner Asia Minerals Resources (LON:ARMS), until recently known as Bumi, said Thursday the board has decided to replace its chief executive as the firm abandons its growth plans.
Nick von Schirnding — who handled the highly public battle between Nat Rothschild and the founding Bakrie family of Indonesian coal miner Bumi — is stepping down as CEO of the renamed firm.
Schirnding will leave at the end of the month with the company appointing Amir Sambodo, one of its independent directors, as his successor. Sambodo is also on the board of Berau, the Indonesian coal producer that is Asia Resource’s remaining asset.
Bumi was created in 2010 when Nat Rothschild, descendant of the founder of the two-centuries old banking empire, used a cash shell, Vallar, to list the coal and other mining interest in London, providing the members of the Sumatran family a high profile in the West in a $3 billion deal.
But only two years later, the firm began being the focus of bitter recriminations between the Rothschild and the Bakries, a probe by the UK market regulator, allegations of financial impropriety, email hacking and disastrous derivatives trades.
Rothschild, who is still a major shareholder in the company, said Sambodo was an “experienced and safe pair of hands”. Through his Twitter account, he added that von Schirnding “should never have got the job.”
Asia Resources Minerals recently returned $465 million in cash to shareholders. The company’s shares were up 2% to 194.31 pounds at 3:00 pm GMT.
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