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Anglo American has rejected BHP’s £31.1 billion (€36 billion) offer. The board of directors of the mining group, we read in a note, unanimously rejected an offer that “significantly underestimates Anglo American and its future prospects” and whose structure is considered “decidedly unattractive” in light of the “uncertainty and the complexity relating to the proposal and the significant execution risks”.
BHP Group, the largest mining company in the world – created in 2001 from the merger between the Australian Broken Hill Proprietary Company and the English Billiton – had launched a paper-for-paper takeover bid (i.e. shares of the future group are offered and not cash) by £31 billion on Anglo American, which predicted a value of £25.08 for each Anglo American share, including £4.86 in Anglo Platinum shares and £3.40 in Kumba Iron Ore shares.
If the deal goes through in the future, it would become one of the largest deals since Glencore’s takeover of Xstrata over a decade ago. For its part, Anglo American, listed in London, immediately clarified that it had received an unexpected offer from its Australian rival.
«The board of directors is currently examining this proposal with its consultants – Anglo American had declared in a note prior to today’s, adding that – there is no certainty that an offer will be made, nor on the terms in which such offer could be done.”
Specifically, Anglo American shareholders would receive 0.7097 BHP shares for each ordinary share held and ordinary shares of Anglo Platinum and Kumba, which would be distributed pro rata by Anglo American to its shareholders. The terms of the proposal, based on the closing market prices of April 23, 2024 (which is considered the last trading day before the rumors launched by Bloomberg) represented a premium of 31% and a premium of approximately 78% compared to at the weighted average closing price of the 90 trading days before April 23.
