Anglo rebuffs BHP request to extend takeover talks

Anglo American has rejected BHP's request to extend its 'put up or shut up' offer deadline, advising shareholders to take no action in response to the latter's latest attempt to sway the mining group into a £39bn takeover deal.

The PUSU deadline had already been extended to 1700 BST on Wednesday, following Anglo's rejection of BHP's latest proposal on 22 May, through which BHP demanded that Anglo spin off its two businesses in South Africa, Anglo Platinum and Kumba Iron Ore – something that both Anglo and the South African government expressed concerns about.

Since then, BHP has engaged with Anglo and its advisers and proposed a range of "socioeconomic measures" to address concerns about the combined entity's corporate structure. However, Anglo has now said it believes these measures – which BHP believes will support regulatory approvals – don't go far enough.

"As stated in the announcement of 22 May 2024, the requirement to pursue two contemporaneous demergers of publicly listed companies alongside a takeover and the inter-conditional nature of the three transactions is unprecedented," Anglo said in a statement on Wednesday morning.

"Undertaking a takeover in parallel with two demergers would result in additional material approvals. Such regulatory considerations for takeovers are not unique to South Africa and are increasingly prevalent in a number of jurisdictions. The approvals required in relation to the BHP Proposal would be likely to result in material conditions being imposed that would disproportionately impact the value of Anglo American Platinum and Kumba and, therefore, the value delivered to Anglo American's shareholders."

Anglo, which earlier this month released details about its own alternative restructuring, said BHP's newly proposed measures mean its shareholders would bear "disproportionate execution and value risks and uncertainty over an extended period", which could also erode the value of the shares held by minority shareholders of both South African subsidiaries.

Anglo's share price was down 0.5% at 2,544.50p following its statement.