Standard Life to support Bumi board Standard Life Investments, a big shareholder in Bumi, said it would support the company's board and vote against proposals from co-founder Nat Rothschild to oust 12 of the company's 14 directors. The move by SLI, which holds 2.17 per cent of Bumi's shares, represents a further blow to Mr Rothschild's hopes of regaining control of the London-listed Indonesian coal miner he created in 2010. It comes a day after another large Bumi shareholder, the Indonesian businessman Rosan Roeslani, announced he was selling his 10 per cent stake in the company to three new investors. Previous to the sale, the voting power of Bumi's main Indonesian shareholders - Mr Roeslani, the Bakrie family and tycoon Samin Tan - had been capped at 30 per cent after the Takeover Panel ruled in December that they were acting in concert. But the panel has ruled the buyers of Mr Roeslani's interest are not a concert party, meaning they will be able to vote their stakes freely at Thursday's meeting. That potentially increases the share of votes that the board can count on from 30 per cent to more than 40 per cent. Meanwhile, the Takeover Panel announced on Tuesday that it had dismissed an appeal by the Bakries over the restrictions on their voting rights. Its statement took the Bakries to task for appearing to try to rewrite the UK's takeover rules. "The reality which the committee considers emerges from the submissions of the appellant is that the appellant is seeking to rewrite the code," the Panel said. It also said the Bakries were, "in effect, seeking to amend or sidestep" the Panel's December ruling. Bumi is trying to separate itself from the Bakries, who co-founded the company with Mr Rothschild. The Bumi board and Mr Rothschild have rival plans for executing the split. David Cumming, Standard Life's head of equities, said he favoured the plan put forward by the Bumi board. "After careful consideration of the resolutions we believe the restructured Bumi plc board has the best prospects of exiting the Bakrie relationship and maximising long-term value for the remaining shareholders," he said. As a consequence, he added, he had decided to support the board and vote against all Mr Rothschild's resolutions. Mr Cumming added that Standard Life had made it clear to Bumi the importance of restructuring the company's board and strengthening its executive team, and stressed these were "prerequisites for restoring confidence and delivering the returns shareholders expect." In a statement, Mr Rothschild said he had "great respect" for Mr Cumming and he and Standard Life "agree on many things." "Most importantly . . . we both agree that this board and the existing management team needs to be restructured," he said. He said the outcome of Thursday's meeting would depend on the Takeover Panel's "decision to admit new shareholders at the 11th hour." Bumi was created in 2010 through a $3bn deal in which stakes in two Indonesian coal companies associated with the Bakries - PT Bumi Resources and PT Berau Coal Energy - were reversed into Rothschild's London-listed cash shell. But Bumi's share price has been hit by a fall in the price of thermal coal, rows between the founding shareholders and allegations of financial irregularities at its Indonesian mining businesses. Last month Mr Rothschild, who quit the Bumi board last October, called for an extraordinary meeting at which shareholders will be asked to vote on his proposal to replace the board, including chairman Samin Tan, with a new team led by mining veteran Wallace King and including himself.