BHP is free to relaunch a bid to acquire Anglo American (LON: AAL) starting Friday, as the six-month standstill mandated by London’s takeover rules following the withdrawal of a previous offer has expired.
Last month, BHP chair Ken MacKenzie stated at the company’s AGM that BHP had “moved on” from its bid for Anglo. However, BHP later clarified that MacKenzie’s comments were not intended as an official statement under UK takeover rules.
(Bloomberg) — BHP Group has been forced to walk back from comments about having “moved on” from its failed Anglo American Plc bid to prevent its hands being tied by the UK takeover panel from launching another buyout attempt.
Chairman Ken MacKenzie made the comments Wednesday at a shareholder meeting of the world’s biggest miner in Australia. Anglo shares fell as much as 4.5%, underperforming the wider sector.
(Bloomberg) — The world’s biggest miners are back in serious dealmaking mode and Teck Resources Ltd. is taking center stage.
The Canadian miner, which has exited its coal business with a sale this month to Glencore Plc, is drawing attention from across the industry because of its attractive copper assets, as the biggest names position for the next wave of activity in the wake of BHP Group’s failed bid for Anglo American Plc.
(Bloomberg) — Anglo American Plc is looking at more diamond production cuts as the industry continues to struggle, complicating its plan to sell the De Beers unit as part of a radical overhaul of its business.
Anglo announced the restructuring earlier this year as part of a successful rebuttal of a US$49 billion approach from BHP Group, the world’s the biggest miner. That plan centered around exiting diamond mining by spinning off or selling its De Beers unit, separating platinum and selling its coal mines.
A six-year synthetic diamond experiment by De Beers is being abandoned in the first aftershock of the failed $49 billion attempt by BHP to buy mining rival Anglo American, the current owner of the diamond industry leader.
The controversial decision to make and market synthetic, or laboratory grown diamonds, was an attempt by De Beers to be a player at the cheap end of the gem business, a place in which it has never been comfortable. Lured by the opportunity to sell man-made gems to a mass audience there was always the risk that De Beers would get trapped in a race to the bottom in both quality and price.
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BHP Group’s botched bid for Anglo American brings the curtain down on the greatest takeover attempt in global mining in more than a decade. The megamerger game will not end here. BHP’s lunge for its smaller rival highlighted a hard truth: Copper is in short supply and any big mining company without it will pay the price as economies strive for low-carbon futures.
The desire to own Anglo’s copper assets, including its 44-per-cent stake in Chile’s Collahuasi mine, one of the world’s biggest copper reserves, propelled BHP’s pursuit of Anglo. Copper is the metal considered most critical to the energy revolution.
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BHP Group Ltd. BHP-N, the world’s biggest mining company, is seeing its megamerger proposal with Anglo American PLC fall apart, with the smaller company rejecting BHP’s call to extend the takeover talks.
Anglo’s rejection almost certainly kills BHP’s proposal to put the two companies together, which would have created the world’s biggest producer of copper, a metal considered critical to the transition to a low-carbon economy. Only a few days ago, it seemed the two sides were on the verge of an agreement.
De Beers draws its value from the diamond market. That value has come under scrutiny after last month’s dramatic bid by BHP Billiton to acquire Anglo American, the 85% shareholder of De Beers — a deal Anglo rejected. The offer, along with the diamond market’s weak performance in 2023, has fueled speculation about the future of De Beers.
Anglo confirmed the rumors on May 14, while laying out its strategy to unlock value after rejecting a second offer from BHP. De Beers will “be divested or demerged, to improve strategic flexibility for both De Beers and Anglo American,” the company stated.
BHP (ASX: BHP) has withdrawn its proposal to buy Anglo American (LON: AAL) after the takeover target rejected early on Wednesday the world’s largest miner’s request to extend talks, and said that while it believes its bid was “compelling”, the company is committed to a “disciplined approach” to mergers and acquisitions.
“BHP will not be making a firm offer for Anglo American,” chief executive Mark Henry said in a statement published minutes before the 5 p.m. UK time deadline for the mining giant to make a formal bid. “While we believed that our proposal for Anglo American was a compelling opportunity to effectively grow the pie of value for both sets of shareholders, we were unable to reach agreement with Anglo American on our specific views in respect of South African regulatory risk and cost,” Henry noted.
(Bloomberg) — The diamond industry has already been feeling the heat. Prices have slumped, Russian sanctions are threatening trade and the emergence of lab-grown gems is eating into some key traditional markets. Now, the sector’s most dominant name is being cast adrift.
Anglo American Plc on Tuesday said it will spin off or sell its De Beers business, ending an almost century-long relationship with the industry’s most famous name. The move, part of a wide12)r restructuring to fend off a $43 billion approach from BHP Group, is a seismic shock for the diamond world.
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The Canadian head of BHP Group Ltd. says the world’s biggest mining company will remain disciplined as it chases an acquisition of struggling competitor Anglo American PLC, as concerns arise about the complexity and timelines around its US$43-billion takeover offer.
Speaking at a mining conference in Miami, BHP chief executive Mike Henry said that his company’s twice-rejected proposal remains “quite compelling,” and he signalled the Australian miner won’t overpay in its efforts to win over Anglo’s board. “We have a very, very hard-won reputation for discipline when it comes to capital allocation and we do not take that lightly,” he said.
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Anglo American (LON: AAL), the takeover target of mining giant BHP (ASX: BHP), has ceded to pressure from investors announcing plans to sell some of its legacy assets in an attempt to protect itself from current and future bids.
The sweeping break up plan, disclosed on Tuesday, will see Anglo American sell its diamond business De Beers, its South Africa-based Anglo American Platinum — Amplats — (JSE: AMS) and its steelmaking coal assets.
Anglo American Plc will exit diamond, platinum and coal mining in a massive restructuring designed to fend off a £34 billion (US$43 billion) bid from rival BHP Group and turn itself into a copper giant.
Anglo’s hand was forced by BHP’s approach — which it has twice rejected — but the move also responds to pressure from shareholders to shed less profitable businesses and focus on the copper assets that are the envy of the industry. It leaves a much simpler company — and a potentially more attractive one to suitors.
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BHP Group’s effort to become the world’s biggest copper miner ran into another roadblock after smaller rival Anglo American rejected BHP’s second takeover proposal. BHP on Monday said its new proposal represented a 15-per-cent increase to the opening share exchange offer. If the improved offer had been accepted, Anglo shareholders’ ownership of the enlarged group would have gone to 16.6 per cent from 14.8 per cent.
“BHP put forward a revised proposal to the Anglo American board that we strongly believe would be a win-win for BHP and Anglo American shareholders,” Mike Henry, the Canadian chief executive officer of BHP, said in a statement. “We are disappointed that second proposal has been rejected.”
(Bloomberg) — Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi vowed to protect the country’s interests, including its 15% stake in diamond giant De Beers, should BHP Group Ltd. acquire Anglo American Plc.
Anglo, which rejected a BHP proposal valuing the mining company at about $39 billion, owns the other 85% of De Beers. Under the proposed deal, BHP — once a major diamond producer itself — said that De Beers would be put on a strategic review. Anglo, the only major miner with a big diamond business, has already been reviewing the future of units including De Beers.
