FACTBOX-Bakrie & Brothers in spotlight after M&A, debt deals

JAKARTA, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Indonesia's politically connected Bakrie & Brothers (BNBR.JK) has a chequered history and has upset its minority shareholders on previous occasions.

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Here are some facts about the group. * Listed holding company Bakrie & Brothers (BNBR.JK) owns stakes in coal producer PT Bumi Resources (BUMI.JK); plantation firm PT Bakrie Sumatera Plantations (UNSP.JK); property firm PT Bakrieland Development (ELTY.JK); energy explorer PT Energi Mega Persada (ENRG.JK); and mobile phone operator PT Bakrie Telecom (BTEL.JK). * Bakrie Group was founded in 1942 by Achmad Bakrie, the father of Indonesia's chief social welfare minister Aburizal Bakrie. Bakrie & Brothers raised $35 million from an initial public offering in 1980, and today, several family members are involved in the group.

* In the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, Bakrie & Brothers, like many local firms, defaulted on its debts. It restructured $1.2 billion of debt, converting some into equity in 2001.

* Bakrie unit PT Bumi bought 80 percent of PT Arutmin Indonesia from BHP Billiton for $148 million in 2001, and bought PT Kaltim Prima Coal from BP (BP.L) and Rio Tinto for about $500 million in 2003, making it Indonesia's biggest coal producer.

Both deals came about as foreign firms faced increasing pressure to get out of Indonesia's natural resources sector.

* When a huge mud volcano erupted near Surabaya, Indonesia's second-biggest city, in 2006, some scientists said it was caused by drilling by a company linked to the Bakrie family. The Bakrie group denied any responsibility and blamed it on an earthquake.

The mudflow has inundated 12 villages and displaced more than 50,000 people. The government has ordered the operator of the exploration well, PT Lapindo Brantas, to pay 3.8 trillion rupiah in compensation to the victims.

* In 2008, Bakrie & Brothers consolidated the Bakrie family's businesses, buying the family's stakes in Bumi, Bakrieland and Bakrie Sumatera. The deal was funded by a $5.6 billion rights issue. Bumi later paid $547 million for a majority stake in Australia's Herald Resources (HER.AX).

* Bakrie & Brothers borrowed $1.1 billion from Oddickson, and $150 million each from JPMorgan (JPM.N) and India's ICICI (ICBK.BO), using its shares in Bumi, Energi, Bakrieland, Bakrie Sumatera and Bakrie Telecom as collateral. As share prices collapsed last year, the group faced margin calls.

* November 28, Indonesian private equity company Northstar Pacific purchased $575 million of Bakrie & Brothers debt from Oddickson. A month later, Bakrie & Brothers and Northstar formed a joint venture which controls 21.4 percent of Bumi.

* January 2009, soon after its debt restructuring, Bumi acquired three coal mining companies, PT Darma Henwa Tbk (DEWA.JK), PT Fajar Bumi Sakti, and PT Pendopo Energi Batubara, at a total cost of more than 6 trillion rupiah ($540 million).

The deals sparked an outcry from minority investors who questioned the valuations, asked whether these were arms-length given the various links between the target companies and Bakrie firms or officials, and wondered whether the proceeds would be used to pay off Bakrie group debts.

For Darma Henwa, Bumi paid an equivalent of 300 rupiah a share, or six times the stock market price.

PT Pendopo was controlled by Bakrie Capital, a Bakrie group company, and is not producing any coal yet, according to Indonesian Coal Book 2008/09.

A Bumi director, Nalinkant Rathod, admitted he had been president commissioner of Fajar Bumi Sakti, but told reporters he had resigned from the target company.

Bumi said the transactions did not contravene any capital market regulations.

* Bumi's share price fell as low as 385 rupiah on Jan. 16, from its historic high of 8,750 rupiah in June 2008. The decline raises further questions about the group's decision in October 2008 to launch a share buyback programme where investors would get paid 2,150 rupiah per share.

Minority investors question the use of company funds to buy shares at around five times the open market value. ($1=11075 Rupiah) (Reporting by Harry Suhartono; Editing by Sara Webb and Lincoln Feast)