BHP walks away after fresh approach for Anglo American fails

[LONDON] BHP Group confirmed it held preliminary discussions with rival miner Anglo American but said that it was now “no longer considering a combination of the two companies”.

Bloomberg News reported on Sunday (Nov 23) that the world’s largest miner, which made a failed bid for Anglo last year, had made a fresh overture in recent days.

Anglo rejected the offer, according to sources familiar with the situation, having reviewed the proposal and decided that it is not superior to a planned combination with Canada’s Teck Resources. The sources could not be named as the discussions are private.

“While BHP continues to believe that a combination with Anglo American would have had strong strategic merits and created significant value for all shareholders, BHP is confident in the highly compelling potential of its own organic growth strategy,” the company said in a regulatory statement on Monday. It did not provide details of any proposal.

Like Teck, Anglo has long been seen as a potential takeover target for the industry’s biggest players because of its attractive copper portfolio. However, buyers had largely been put off by Anglo’s eclectic mix of other relatively niche assets stretching from diamonds to platinum.

BHP also walked away from its last attempt to take over Anglo, saying it would focus on its own growth portfolio. Its apparent change of heart comes less than three weeks before shareholders from Anglo and Teck are scheduled to vote on their deal to create a new copper giant worth more than US$60 billion.

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Anglo declined to comment.

Under the UK Takeover Code, BHP is now barred from making a bid for six months, unless there is a new bid from another suitor or the miner gains Anglo American’s approval. BLOOMBERG