<article>An Indonesian businessman has filed a request to a Jakarta court to put a hold on any deal that would involve a nearly 18 percent stake held by a local company in Newmont Mining Corp&#8217;s Indonesian operations.</article>

An Indonesian businessman has filed a request to a Jakarta court to put a hold on any deal that would involve a nearly 18 percent stake held by a local company in Newmont Mining Corp&#8217;s Indonesian operations.
Gustaaf Merukh owns a stake in local company PT Pukuafu Indah and is suing other Pukuafu shareholders, including his own relatives, according to court documents dated Feb. 5 seen by Reuters and an interview with his spokesman.
Merukh says these shareholders faked his consent to use Pukuafu&#8217;s 17.8 percent stake in Newmont&#8217;s local unit, PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT), as collateral to get a $600 million loan in 2012 from the U.S. parent, Choky Simanjuntak, head of Merukh&#8217;s legal and public relations team, told Reuters by phone.
Newmont spokesman Omar Jabara said in an email that &#8220;it appears the suit is about the fact the PTNNT (Newmont Nusa Tenggara) took out a $600 million revolver loan with a consortium of banks and not about a loan to PTPI (Pukuafu)&#8221;.
Independent lawyers say Merukh&#8217;s request could hamper the effort of another Indonesian group &#8211; which includes prominent businessman Arifin Panigoro &#8211; to buy a controlling stake in NNT, operator of Indonesia&#8217;s second-biggest copper and gold mine.
Merukh has asked the Jakarta court to prevent any deal involving Pukuafu&#8217;s stake before he receives compensation for having his rights &#8220;eliminated&#8221;, among other claims, according to the court documents.
&#8220;We would like to advise investors who are interested in NNT shares to hold themselves back until this court process is resolved,&#8221; Simanjuntak said.
The court has not made a decision yet, Simanjuntak said.
Panigoro, a founder of Jakarta-listed oil and gas firm PT Medco Energi Tbk, said his group&#8217;s deal &#8211; possibly worth $2 billion according to industry insiders &#8211; to get control of Newmont&#8217;s local unit was expected to be announced last week, but it did not materialize.
Newmont has not responded to a request for comment, and calls to Pukuafu&#8217;s office were answered by operators who said the company&#8217;s executives were not available. Panigoro also was not immediately available.
If any potential buyers want a controlling stake in NNT, an issuance of an &#8220;attachment order&#8221; that freezes Pukuafu&#8217;s 17.8 percent interest would not necessarily prevent them from achieving their objective if other shareholders were willing to sell, Bill Sullivan, licensed foreign advocate with Christian Teo &amp; Partners, said in an email.
However, potential buyers &#8220;may still be cautious about closing the deal to buy a controlling stake in NNT as long as there is an unresolved legal dispute involving a significant block of NNT shares,&#8221; Sullivan added.
&#8220;The attachment order should not be granted until after the first hearing of Merukh&#8217;s claim and following the respondents being given the opportunity to present their arguments against an attachment order being made, a process that could take several weeks at least,&#8221; he said.
NNT&#8217;s stakeholders include Japan&#8217;s Sumitomo Corp and Jakarta-listed Bumi Resources Minerals, controlled by the family-owned conglomerate Bakrie Group.
(Reporting by Eveline Danubrata, Yuddy Cahya and Wilda Asmarini in JAKARTA)
<h4>Reuters</h4>

An Indonesian businessman has moved Jakarta court to put a hold on any deal that would involve a nearly 18 percent stake held by a local company in Newmont Mining. 

Indonesia businessman asks court to block sale of company's Newmont stake

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Indonesia businessman asks court to block sale of company's Newmont stake

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