The board of Anglo American has rejected a proposal from BHP Group Limited to take over Anglo American.
Anglo American owns De Beers, which has several partnerships in Namibia with the government in Debmarine Namibia, Namdeb Holdings and the Namibia Diamond Trading Company.
The proposal comprised an all-share offer for Anglo American by BHP, with a requirement for Anglo American to complete two separate demergers of its entire shareholdings in Anglo American Platinum Limited and Kumba Iron Ore Limited to Anglo American shareholders.
“The board has considered the proposal with its advisers and concluded that the proposal significantly undervalues Anglo American and its future prospects,” the company.
Stuart Chambers, Chairman of Anglo American said Anglo American is well positioned to create significant value from its portfolio of high quality assets that are well aligned with the energy transition and other major demand trends.
“With copper representing 30% of Anglo American’s total production, and with the benefit of well-sequenced and value-accretive growth options in copper and other structurally attractive products, the Board believes that Anglo American’s shareholders stand to benefit from what we expect to be significant value appreciation as the full impact of those trends materialises.”
Chambers said the BHP proposal is opportunistic and fails to value Anglo American’s prospects, while significantly diluting the relative value upside participation of Anglo American’s shareholders relative to BHP’s shareholders.
“The proposed structure is also highly unattractive, creating substantial uncertainty and execution risk borne almost entirely by Anglo American, its shareholders and its other stakeholders. Anglo American has defined clear strategic priorities of operational excellence, portfolio, and growth, to deliver full value potential and is entirely focused on that delivery.”
The company has a primary listing on the main market of the London Stock Exchange and secondary listings on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Botswana Stock Exchange, the Namibia Stock Exchange and the SIX Swiss Exchange.
Anglo American noted that the BHP comprised an all-share offer for Anglo American, that would be been preceded by separate demergers by Anglo American of its entire shareholdings in Kumba Iron Ore Limited and Anglo American Platinum to Anglo American shareholders.
In Namibia, De Beers recover diamonds from the country’s northern and southern coastal regions. In terms of marine diamonds, De Beers conduct marine-based diamond recovery around 90m to 150m below sea level in the Atlantic Ocean off the Namibian coast. It operates a fleet of seven vessels, capable of exploring for and retrieving diamond-bearing materials from the seabed and processing them to a diamond-rich concentrate.
