http://www.theaustralian.com.au/
MINING tycoon Mick Davis has entered the fray again, tabling a multi-billion dollar offer for a big chunk of Anglo American’s empire.
The bid, thought to have been made in recent weeks, is the latest attempt by the former boss of mining giant Xstrata to launch his new vehicle, X2 Resources.
Mr Davis, who sold Xstrata last year to Glencore for $US27 billion, has raised $US4.8bn ($5.5bn) from a handful of investors to set up a diversified mining giant.
The Anglo bid marks the second time he has tried to prise away assets from one of the world’s top miners to form the heart of his new venture. BHP Billiton rejected a similar bid and has instead decided to spin off aluminium, coal, nickel and manganese operations into a new $US12bn listed company.
The 56-year-old South African is not the only suitor knocking on Anglo’s door. It is understood that Warburg Pincus, the private equity giant who this year hired Peter Kukielski, Arcelor Mittal’s former mining chief, had also made an approach for some of the giant’s assets.
Mark Cutifani, who took over as Anglo’s chief executive 18 months ago with a mandate to slash costs, sell assets and knock the company into shape after years of underperformance, has already announced plans to sell a big part of its historic platinum mining operation in South Africa and launched an auction for copper mines in Chile.
It is thought Mr Davis tabled a proposal that included the copper mines as well as a raft of other operations, including its Brazilian nickel mines and some coal assets.
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