The global mining company BHP has “moved on” from its three unsuccessful attempts to take over the rival Anglo American earlier this year and will focus on other growth opportunities instead, its chair has said.
Speaking at BHP’s annual general meeting in Brisbane on Wednesday, Ken MacKenzie suggested the Australian miner would not be resurrecting its bid for its London-based competitor after a six-month block on trying again lifts at the end of November.
BHP had its third offer of £39bn turned down by Anglo board members in May after last-ditch talks over restructuring the 107-year-old company collapsed.
The five-week pursuit of the company met a block over BHP’s plans to sell off some of Anglo’s South African business interests as part of the takeover. This included the sale of Kumba Iron Ore and Anglo American Platinum, major employers in South Africa.
The proposals were described as “highly complex and unattractive” by Anglo, which is a household name in South Africa and counts the government as one of its largest shareholders.
MacKenzie told Wednesday’s AGM: “We made an approach to Anglo American earlier this year … we thought there was an opportunity here to create something unique and special, a bit of a sort of a ‘one plus one equals three’ opportunity.
“Unfortunately, Anglo American shareholders had a different view, and they thought there was more value in the plan that their management wanted to execute. And so they moved on. And quite frankly, so have we.”
Shares in Anglo dropped 3.5% in early trading on Wednesday after the comments, making it the biggest faller on the FTSE 100.
MacKenzie’s comments came amid mounting speculation that BHP could resurrect a bid after a Financial Times report that its chief executive, Mike Henry, and its chief development officer, Catherine Raw, had travelled to South Africa to meet government officials.
MacKenzie pointed to BHP’s recent £3.46bn ($4.5bn) joint venture with the Canadian outfit Lundin Mining to buy the South American-focused company Filo Corp as evidence that it was pursuing new opportunities. Filo Corp has several large copper mines in Chile and Argentina.
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At the meeting, more than 91% of shareholders voted to back BHP’s climate action transition plan, which aims to reduce operational emissions by 30% from 2020 by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2050.
MacKenzie confirmed at the meeting that the company was slightly ahead of its 2030 target.
Anglo declined to comment.