Shares in AIM quoted coal project developer Churchill Mining (LON:CHL) jumped by 46% to 55.25p this morning on news that the company had teamed up with two prominent individuals in the Indonesian business community. The move saw Mr Rachmat Gobel and Ms Fara Luwia inject £7.7 million into the business in a subscription for shares priced at 40p each totalling around 16.5% of Churchill’s enlarged share capital. Apart from the cash boost, Churchill is hoping the assistance of Mr Gobel and Ms Luwia will help resolve a dispute with the authorities in East Kalimantan over the validity of its licences covering the East Kutai Coal Project.

The 40p per share placing represented a 60% premium to Churchill’s 20-day volume weighted average share price at the end of April. On March 2, shares in Churchill collapsed from 90p to 27.5p on confirmation that a tribunal had upheld an earlier decision by the East Kutai Regent to cancel its licences. Wrangling over the validity of that cancellation is ongoing, with Churchill and its local partner Ridlatama claiming the decision was unwarranted and failed to follow legal protocols in the country. Today, the company said the latest transaction had introduced a significant Indonesian shareholder that has “both the financial capacity and local presence necessary to help see the East Kutai Coal Project through from its current legal challenges to its production phase”. It said it would use the proceeds of the placement for the further development of the project.

Mr Gobel is the president director and majority owner of PT Gobel International, which Churchill said was a well-known and highly respected company with an impressive track record of partnering with international companies in Indonesia. It recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of its successful partnership with the Matsushita Corporation (now Panasonic Corporation), and is the local representative of Qatar Telecom in PT Indosat Tbk, one of the largest mobile telecommunications providers in Indonesia. Mr Gobel is the vice chairman of the Advisory Board of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the vice chairman of the Employers' Association of Indonesia, and the chairman of the Patronage Council of the Indonesian-Japan Economic Committee. Ms Luwia is a successful Indonesian businesswoman who is currently developing one of the largest modern rice mills in Indonesia in partnership with a large global commodities trader based in…

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