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Homeeurope newsARMS split from Bakries culminates in Twitter spat with Rothschild

ARMS split from Bakries culminates in Twitter spat with Rothschild

Coal miner Asia Resource Minerals (ARMS) on Tuesday announced its long-awaited split with the Indonesian family that helped found it, sparking bitter posts on Twitter between a family member and fellow ARMS founder Nat Rothschild.

Indonesia-focused ARMS, previously known as Bumi, was founded in 2010 by the influential Bakries and financier Nat Rothschild, with the aim of giving London investors access to promising Indonesian coal assets.

Simon Dawson | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The business suffered from boardroom rows, allegations of wrongdoing and falling coal prices. Its shares have lost almost 80 percent of their value since the business was set up.

Tuesday's fiery Twitter exchange between Rothschild and Aga Bakrie, a member of the politically-connected Bakrie family, demonstrated the extent to which the company founders' relationship had soured.

"Whilst your dad is an evil genius (yes I'm paying Nirwan a compliment), the word on the street is that you are extremely DUMB," tweeted Rothschild, who has a stake of about 16 percent in ARMS, to Bakrie.

(Read more: Why it's time to turn bullish on miners)

To this Bakrie replied: "Dumb, I believe that's the word that has been associated with you by most of the people that I have met."

In an attempt to revive the business's fortunes, ARMS shareholders voted in December to split from the Bakrie family, but this took longer than expected due to difficulties of raising the necessary cash.

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