(Sept 18): Indonesian tycoon Andi Syamsuddin Arsyad agreed to acquire a major stake in miner PT Bayan Resources, setting the stage for him to become one of the biggest figures in the global thermal coal industry.

The tycoon, who is better known as Haji Isam, agreed on Sept 16 to acquire 30% of the company’s shares through his company PT Jhonlin Baratama, according to a stock exchange filing late Thursday. The shares will be transferred from Low Tuck Kwong and his daughter Elaine Low, Bayan’s two biggest shareholders, subject to several conditions.

Bayan didn’t elaborate further on the conditions or the price of the share sale. Jhonlin and Bayan didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. A US$3 billion (RM12.2 billion) cash offer for a 62% stake in the coal company was made this month, according to people familiar with the matter.

Haji Isam, 49, has been seeking control of Bayan in a deal that would make him one of the world’s top coal producers. The businessman from Kalimantan was among the biggest backers of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s 2024 election campaign and now oversees major government projects, including a one-million-hectare food estate in Papua.

His conglomerate PT Jhonlin Group is already a major producer of thermal coal, requesting a mining quota of 60 million tons this year, Bloomberg reported in July. Bayan, meanwhile, mined about 68 million tons last year.

A combined total would place Haji Isam above industry giants like Glencore Plc and below only Indian and Chinese miners that sell their product domestically. He would control by far the largest miner in Indonesia, the world’s biggest exporter of thermal coal.

Bayan, founded by Singapore-born Low in 2004, had its production quota slashed by the Indonesian government earlier this year, leading it to declare force majeure last week. Competitors including PT Bumi Resources and PT Adaro Andalan were largely spared from enforced output cuts, Bloomberg reported in February.

Uploaded by Evelyn Chan