BHP Abandons Bid for Anglo American Following New Talks — 2nd Update

By Rhiannon Hoyle

BHP Group said it won't pursue a takeover of Anglo American following new talks, shutting the door on a deal that could have turbocharged its copper business and helping clear the way for its U.K. rival to close a merger with Teck Resources.

Melbourne, Australia-based BHP first approached London-listed Anglo American about a possible takeover in April last year, arguing that a combination of the companies' prized copper mines and other operations would have significant benefits.

That roughly $50 billion proposal was rejected by Anglo, which has since agreed to merge with Canada's Teck in a deal to be voted on by shareholders next month.

In a statement Monday, BHP said it had held more discussions with Anglo's board, but that it is no longer considering a combination of the two companies.

"Whilst BHP continues to believe that a combination with Anglo American would have had strong strategic merits and created significant value for all stakeholders, BHP is confident in the highly compelling potential of its own organic growth strategy," it said.

Under U.K. rules, BHP is now restricted from making an offer for Anglo for six months. The company said it could reconsider should a third party make a bid for Anglo, or under a few other circumstances. BHP is the world's biggest miner by market value.

Few commodities are as sought after by global miners as copper right now. Copper is used heavily in electric vehicles, renewable energy and data centers. New supplies of the metal aren't expected to keep pace with demand, leading to higher prices.

U.S. copper futures have risen roughly 25% so far this year and are around 14% off their record high achieved in late July.

For many mining companies, an additional appeal of copper is that it is often found alongside gold, which has also become more valuable this year and hit a new record price last month.

Anglo rejected a trio of takeover proposals from BHP in a weekslong saga last year, during which the London company raised concerns about the structure of its rival's plans. The proposals were contingent on Anglo spinning off shareholdings in two South African-listed units--a requirement that Anglo said would take time and hurt the value of those businesses.

Anglo instead pursued a restructuring as part of a turnaround effort aimed at winning over investors. It has since offloaded its South African platinum business.

In September, Anglo and Teck agreed to a merger that will create one of the world's largest copper producers.

BHP, already the world's biggest miner of the metal, has previously said that it isn't reliant on deals and that it already has plenty of copper reserves in-house it can look to develop. However, executives have also acknowledged that resources are getting harder to find and extract.

In August, BHP raised its net-debt target, citing rising spending on growth projects. The change wasn't made to give the company headroom for acquisitions, Chief Executive Mike Henry said at the time.

"We've been quite clear that M&A is but one of our levers for growth and, frankly, in current markets it's hard to see the right combination of the commodities that we like, the asset quality that we like, at a price where we can still unlock attractive value for BHP shareholders," he said.

Shareholders of Anglo and Teck are expected to vote on their deal on Dec. 9.

That deal also needs to be approved by regulators, including in Canada, where the industry minister last week cautioned that current pledges by Anglo American are insufficient to win its support. "I think that Canadians should get more out of this merger of equals," said Melanie Joly, who is responsible for enforcing Canada's foreign-investment laws.

Anglo and Teck are two of the most desirable acquisition targets in the mining industry because of their large copper assets in low-risk regions, Jefferies analysts said in a note to clients. Anglo-Swiss commodities giant Glencore sought to buy Teck in 2023, although it settled for acquiring just its steelmaking coal business.

"We would have been surprised if BHP, Rio, Glencore, Freeport and others had not been at least considering whether there was an opportunity to gatecrash the Anglo-Teck deal," the analysts said. Of those companies, BHP would arguably have the most to gain from a successful bid, as it will be costly and take time for the company to develop its own copper projects, they said.

Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 23, 2025 22:46 ET (03:46 GMT)