Nomura pulls the plug on Indonesian fund-raising The cut-price sale of the companies and their alleged ongoing relationship to the Bakrie family has become part of the investigation by law firm Macfarlanes into potential "financial and other irregularities" at Bumi Resources. The Bakrie family has consistently denied that the initial sale of the two companies was an undisclosed related-party transaction or that it has any continuing relationship with either business. Nomura's marketing document tried to persuade investors to stump up $150m to help finance Benakat's purchase of AMI, which the Japanese bank described as "an integrated coal mining infrastructure company" with assets including "ports, conveyors and a crusher." The business is crucial to the operations at Indonesia's Kaltim Prima Coal and Arutmin mines that are controlled by Bumi Resources in a 70:30 joint venture with Tata Power. Just before Christmas, however, Benakat disclosed that, to complete the financing of the AMI acquisition, it would now be divesting its entire stake in energy subsidiary Benakat Patina to another Indonesian company, Florenceville, for $105m. Curiously, Florenceville was also the mooted buyer of a $290m stake in Bumi Resources" Gallo Oil - one of the company's so-called "development" assets also being investigated by Macfarlanes. Jersey-based Gallo Oil is purported to have invested $363m in Yemeni oil fields, though evidence of such investment is unclear. London-listed Bumi has written the Gallo investment down to zero in its books. Benakat corporate secretary Dina Andini said Benakat was selling its Patina subsidiary because it was "still short on funds" to buy AMI, adding it was necessary to "let go" of one business to "get the better one." Market sources said Nomura had pulled the proposed fund-raising on concerns over the ownership of the various companies involved. "They are not presently fund-raising on this deal," said one source. Nomura declined to comment.