BHP Withdraws Offer For Anglo American

(RTTNews) - BHP Group Ltd (BHP.AX, BLT.L, BBL, BHP) has stated its decision not to proceed with a firm offer for Anglo American plc. (AAUKY.PK, AAL.L), following the rejection of a request to extend takeover discussions. The deadline, extended by a week from last week's cutoff, expired at 5 p.m. London time.

Mike Henry, BHP Chief Executive Officer, said "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."

Mike Henry said that BHP was unable to reach agreement with Anglo American on its specific views in respect of South African regulatory risk and cost. BHP was not able to access from Anglo American key information required to formulate measures to address the excess risk they perceive.

On 20 May 2024, BHP submitted an increased and final offer ratio to the Board of Directors of Anglo American as part of its revised proposal for a potential combination with Anglo American to be effected by way of a scheme of arrangement. The final offer ratio represented a total value of 31.11 pounds per BHP's announcement on 22 May 2024. The revised proposal followed BHP's proposals for a potential combination with Anglo American which were submitted to the Board of Anglo American on 7 May 2024 and 16 April 2024.

BHP's revised proposal was rejected by the Board of Anglo American on 22 May 2024. Meanwhile, Anglo American said Wednesday that it has set out a clear pathway to accelerate delivery of its strategy and to unlock significant value for its shareholders. Its shareholders will benefit from value transparency and undiluted exposure to a simpler portfolio of world class assets, consistently stronger operational performance, and highly attractive growth in copper, premium iron ore and crop nutrients.