Singapore private equity investor, Tembusu Partners has made a USD 7.5 million investment in Param Mitra Coal Resources, backed by Sindhu family which owns India-based Sainik-Aryan Group.
Param Mitra Coal Resources Pte Ltd (PMCR) owns two operating coal mines in East Kalimantan province of Indonesia.
The USD 7.5 million investment is out of the USD 20 million investment underwritten in January 2014 by The Islamic Bank of Asia, a joint venture of Singapore's DBS Bank and investors based in the Gulf Cooperation Council, a statement said.
Singapore-registered PMCR has invested over USD 50 million in the mines. PMCR's Kalimantan mines have a resource base of approximately 500 million metric tonnes (MT) (JORC-certified) and plans to ramp up production to approximately 5 million MT per year within the next three years in preparation for an eventual IPO, the statement added.
PMCR chief executive Dev Sindhu said: "The Tembusu and IB Asia backing for the mines validates PMCR's business strategy amidst rising interest in Indonesian coal."
PMCR has offtake agreements with clients in Indonesia and India, and plans to go for an initial public offer for Asian listings ?n locations such as Singapore.
On the Tembusu investment and the project funding, IB Asia managing director Harish Parameswar said: "?B Asia is working with key business partners to bridge opportunities in the India-Singapore-Indonesia growth triangle."
Tembusu Founder and Chairman Andy Lim said that as a pan-Asian fund backing fast growing entrepreneurial companies, Tembusu looks forward to partnering IB Asia in building PMCR as a platform connecting Indonesia's vast?coal resource base and India's fast energy growing needs.
The Sindhu family has nearly 25 years of experience in the coal mining, logistics and power generation business through its control of India's largest coal beneficiation company, ACB India Ltd, the statement added.