BHP Group made a roughly $53-billion bid for Anglo American that delivered a 24% premium yet was rejected within hours as the London miner held to its Teck Resources merger strategy anchored in copper expansion.
People familiar with the talks told Bloomberg that BHP offered £34 a share late on November 20 compared to Anglo’s £27.36 close, in an approach structured mostly in stock with a smaller cash component.
The overture briefly pushed Anglo shares up as much as 2.7% in London trading on Monday, lifting the stock to a two-week high, but the company’s board dismissed the proposal by Sunday evening after discussions surfaced that morning.
While both companies later acknowledged the contact, neither publicly disclosed the valuation.
READ: BHP Renews—Then Withdraws—Offer To Acquire Anglo American
Analysts say the board’s response was driven by expectations of higher long term value from the pending Teck Resources acquisition, which would combine neighbouring Chilean copper assets into a top five global producer. Anglo’s disclosure in September of the Teck deal reset internal valuation benchmarks, and BHP’s latest offer, despite its scale, did not override those projections.
The £34 per share pitch represented nearly a 50% premium to Anglo’s September 8 close, the day before the Teck plan was unveiled.
BHP has pursued Anglo repeatedly over the past two years. Last year, it tabled a $49 billion offer dependent on Anglo spinning off its South African platinum and diamond operations. That structure drew rapid rejection on grounds of complexity and undervaluation, leading BHP to withdraw after a five week public contest. The new offer avoided those requirements, but Anglo’s historic concerns over its diamond and platinum exposure continue to shape how it evaluates takeover interest.
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