Sources familiar with the matter said Rothschild - who set up Bumi with the Bakries two years ago - was in talks with various partners including former general and current presidential candidate, Prabowo Subianto, to thwart the Bakrie plan and take control of parts of the coal empire.

The bid would pit two rivals for Indonesia's presidency in 2014 against each another and involve a scion of one of Europe's most famous banking families.

Below are details of the three men's involvement in Indonesia and the companies at stake.

KEY COMPANIES * London-listed Bumi Plc, a coal venture formed by Indonesian Bakrie and Rothschild, owns a 29 percent stake in Asia's biggest thermal coal exporter PT Bumi Resources Tbk and an 85 percent stake in Indonesia's fifth-biggest coal producer PT Berau Coal Energy Tbk. * The Bakrie Group and Rothschild conducted a $3 billion reverse takeover in November 2010 when Rothschild's shell company Vallar agreed to buy Berau Coal and a stake in Bumi Resources. * Bumi Resources controls two of Indonesia's prime coal assets: PT Kaltim Prima Coal, in which it has a 65 percent stake, and PT Arutmin Indonesia with a 70 percent stake. * Berau Coal Energy owns a 90 percent stake in PT Berau Coal, a large coal mine operation in Kalimantan island. * The Bakrie Group owns a 23.8 percent stake in Bumi Plc. Its Indonesian partner Samin Tan owns a 23.8 percent stake. Tan become a Bumi shareholder in January 2012 after paying $1 billion to the Bakrie Group. - Indonesia's Bukit Mutiara, a former owner of Berau Coal, owns a 13 percent stake in Bumi Plc while Rothschild owns another 11.9 percent stake. - The Bakrie Group was founded in 1942 by the late Sumatran businessman Achmad Bakrie.

BAKRIE * Achmad Bakrie had four children, Aburizal, Roosmania Odi, Nirwan Dermawan and Indra Usmansyah. * Aburizal Bakrie is chairman of Golkar Party, Indonesia's second-biggest political party. The party has selected him as its candidate for the 2014 presidential election. * Nirwan Dermawan runs the Group's business interests while Indra Usmansyah is co-chairman of Bumi Plc.

PRABOWO * Prabowo Subianto, 61, is a former Indonesian general who was once married to a daughter of late dictator Suharto. Prabowo's father was one of Indonesia's most prominent economic planners, Sumitro Djojohadikusumo. * Prabowo told Reuters recently the U.S. still refuses to grant him a visa because of allegations he was involved in riots in the late 1990's. * Prabowo owns a group of companies under Nusantara Group with interests from pulp and papers to coal mining. * The Nusantara group was believed to be behind the company that is in an ongoing $2 billion legal battle with London-listed Churchill Mining over a large coal reserve in East Kalimantan. * Prabowo says he plans to run as a presidential candidate in 2014 from his political party Gerakan Indonesia Raya (Gerindra).

ROTHSCHILD * Rothschild, 41, is a British-born financier, part of the Rothschild banking family. He is the only son of the fourth baron Rothschild. * Rothschild began his career at Lazard Brothers in London but later moved to New York, eventually becoming co-chairman of hedge fund Atticus Capital. Atticus closed in 2009. * He went on to set up two investment vehicles - Vallar and Vallares. Vallar became Bumi after the Bakrie family deal in 2010. Vallares is now Genel Energy. * Famous for his youthful partying and bulging contact-book, Eton and Oxford-educated Rothschild is based in the Swiss ski resort of Klosters, but spends almost a month a year on his private jet. * This year's Sunday Times Rich List puts his personal fortune at 1 billion pounds, making him one of Britain's 100 richest people - ranking above his father. * He was co-chairman of Bumi Plc until a board shake-up in March. He resigned from the board last month.

(Writing by Janeman Latul and Clara Ferreira-Marques; Editing by Matthew Bigg and Ryan Woo)