BHP, Lundin bid $3.25bn bid for Filo to expand copper presence

Australian Mining giant BHP rebounded from its failure to buy rival Anglo American and announced it would expand its copper interests in South America via a joint venture with Canada’s Lundin Mining which in turn would offer $3.25bn to acquire Filo Corp.

The joint venture will hold the Filo del Sol and Josemaria projects around the Argentine-Chile border, BHP said on Tuesday.

BHP and Lundin have offered $33 Canadian dollars per Filo share, a 12.2% premium to the closing price on Monday, with BHP stumping up $2.1bn.

A previous attempt to broaden its presence in the copper market collapsed in May when BHP abandoned a $49bn bid to take over Anglo American, which had rebuffed three proposed offers from the world's biggest miner.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com