It’s over.
The world’s biggest miner, BHP, has walked away from a potential takeover deal for Anglo American, declining to make a firm offer after failing to convince the board of the smaller company it was in its interests.
This news broke early morning, Australian time, just before a deadline by which the offer had to be lifted/changed or ended.
The “Big Australian” can’t try again for six months, under UK takeover rules.
“BHP will not be making a firm offer for Anglo American. BHP is committed to its Capital Allocation Framework and maintains a disciplined approach to mergers and acquisitions.
“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 and, despite seeking to engage constructively and numerous requests, we were not able to access from Anglo American key information required to formulate measures to address the excess risk they perceive.
“We remain of the view that our proposal was the most effective structure to deliver value for Anglo American shareholders, and we are confident that, working together with Anglo American, we could have obtained all required regulatory approvals, including in South Africa.”
The deal, as BHP put it, required Anglo American to divest some assets that it didn’t want or didn’t like the risk of.
Why did they want the deal? It’s all about the future. Here’s Ian Verrender’s take on why the mega-miner wanted more.
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