Clash of the Mining Titans: Anglo American ha rejected unanimously the offer of 31,1 billion pounds (approximately 36 billion euros) presented by bhp. According to a statement from the mining company's board of directors, the offer was deemed "opportunistic and does not enhance Anglo American's prospects". Furthermore, the offering structure was deemed “unattractive” due to the uncertainty and complexity surrounding the proposal, as well as significant “execution risks”.
bhp, the largest mining company in the world, created in 2001 from the merger between the Australian Broken Hill Proprietary Company and the English Billiton, is listed on three stock exchanges (Australia, the United Kingdom and Wall Street). Anglo American, also present on the London market, was founded in 1917 by Ernest Oppenheimer, and represents one of the largest mining companies in the world, and is the result of the merger which took place in 1999 between Anglo American Corporation of South Africa and the mining company Minorco. In addition to copper, the group holds 45% of De Beers, a historic diamond producer, of which Central Holdings (controlled by the Oppenheimer family) owns 40% and the Republic of Botswana 15%.
At the time news of the proposal leaked, Anglo American saw a 13% increase, equivalent to £30 billion. However, the announcement of the refusal negatively affected the title of Anglo American, which lost 0,31%. BHP was worse as it closed sharply lower on Wall Street (-3,43%)
BHP's bid to acquire rival Anglo American: here are the details
BHP has launched apublic takeover bid (takeover bid) valued at just over 31 billion pounds against Anglo American. This proposal included a value of £25,08 for each Anglo American share, comprising £4,86 in shares of Anglo Platinum and £3,40 in shares of Kumba Iron Gold.
Under the terms of the proposal, Anglo American shareholders would receive 0,7097 BHP shares for each of their ordinary shares. BHP had also proposed that Anglo American shareholders benefit directly from interests in Anglo Platinum (78,6%) and Kumba (69,7%), thus guaranteeing direct access to future dividends and value generated by these companies.
If the operation had been successful, it would have been one of the largest transactions in the mining sector after the one between Glencore and Xstrata more than 10 years ago. However, Anglo American clarified that it had received an unsolicited offer from competing Australian company BHP.
Anglo American's dilemma and the opportunity for BHP
There has been much discussion about the possibility of Anglo selling its De Beers diamond division because of the difficulties financial. In 2023, Anglo's profits plummeted by 94%, while ebitda fell by more than 30%. The reduction in raw material prices has weighed heavily on the sector, forcing miners to reduce production. The group's profitability depends mainly on iron ore and copper.
In recent times, the growing demand for copper from sectors such as renewable energy and electric vehicles has led to a rise in the price of the metal by 13,7%, settling at around $4,54 over the past month. The deal would have increased BHP's exposure to future commodities through Anglo American's copper-related assets, given that the latter owns some of the world's richest copper mines, located in Peru and Chile.
