Indonesia's Sinarmas to invest $600-$700 mln in 2 coal plants-exec

JAKARTA, April 20 (Reuters) - Indonesian conglomerate Sinarmas Group has committed $600 million to $700 million to build two coal-fired power plants in Southeast Asia's largest economy, a senior executive told Reuters on Monday.

Around $500 million of that will come from China Development Bank, Franky Oesman Widjaja, vice-chairman at Sinarmas Group, said in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Jakarta.

Widjaja also said the planned acquisition of London-listed Asia Resource Minerals Plc (LSE: ARMS.L - news) (ARMS) is "an opportunity which is in line with our plan to develop power plants". A potential bid was announced last week, and Widjaja said on Monday the bid was being processed, without giving details.

A potential bid by Sinarmas and hedge fund Argyle Street Management for ARMS risks scuppering a long-awaited restructuring backed by ARMS co-founder Nathaniel Rothschild.

Sinarmas, founded by billionaire Eka Tjipta Widjaja, has businesses in pulp and paper, plantations, energy, property and financial services. (Reporting by Eveline Danubrata and Cindy Silviana; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)