The board of the Indonesian coalminer battling Nat Rothschild for control of the company has strengthened its position ahead of a crucial shareholder vote, stacking the odds against the UK financier at a showdown on February 21.

While Bumi’s main Indonesian shareholders – the Bakrie family and businessmen Samin Tan and Rosan Roeslani – had jointly owned 58 per cent of the shares, their voting power at Thursday’s extraordinary general meeting was to be capped at 29.9 per cent after the UK Takeover Panel ruled the three parties were acting in concert.

Mr Roeslani, however, yesterday sold his 10 per cent stake in Bumi to three new investors who will be able to vote their stakes, raising the board’s likely support from 30 per cent to more than 40 per cent ahead of the vote. Two of the three new Bumi investors, Avenue Capital and the Tanoesoedibjo family, have prior relationships with the Bakrie family.