By Christian Moess Laursen


Anglo American rebuffed an improved 39.24 billion-pound ($49.87 billion) takeover proposal from rival BHP Group, following two prior rejections over the last month, in what would have been the largest-ever mining deal.

Despite the rejection, Anglo's board said it is willing to engage with BHP and has therefore requested a one-week extension to the formal offer deadline. BHP now has until May 29 to state whether it will make a new bid.

The multinational, diversified miner said Wednesday that under the proposed bid, it would have received 0.886 BHP shares for each Anglo share held, with the proposal representing a total value of around GBP29.34 per share.

Anglo American has already rejected two all-share offers from BHP, citing significant undervaluation of the company and the proposals being too complex to execute. This third bid included the same highly complex structure as the two previous proposals, Anglo said.

The previous proposal, made public on May 13, would have given shareholders 0.8132 BHP shares for each Anglo share held, and 16.6% of the combined company.

So far, all bids have included the contingent spinoffs of Anglo American Platinum and Kumba Iron Ore, as BHP wanted to avoid owning these South Africa-based units that have been hamstrung by tumbling commodity prices, persistently high costs and continued logistical strains over the last year--a condition which Anglo deemed too complex.

In a separate release, BHP said this would be its final offer, but reserved the right to improve the proposal if other bidders emerge or if Anglo's board recommends an offer.


Write to Christian Moess Laursen at christian.moess@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-22-24 1009ET