BHP’s takeover offers were rejected three times before it finally gave up and called it quits.
👉 Background: BHP is the world’s biggest mining company, worth a casual $224 billion. It operates mines in all corners of the world for iron ore, coal, copper, and nickel.
👉 What happened: For the last six weeks, BHP has been in negotiations with Anglo American with the latest offer being a $72 billion takeover of the company. BHP’s takeover offers were rejected three times before it finally gave up and called it quits.
👉 What else: As part of the $72 billion offer, BHP required Anglo American to unbundle its South African businesses to reduce regulatory risk. But, Anglo wasn’t happy with this term - so this deal is officially over (for now).
💡 A takeover bid isn’t just about price, but also about how the company will look in the hands of its new owner.
💡 Anglo American’s biggest shareholder is actually the South African government with over 30% ownership of the business. And given BHP wanted to unbundle Anglos’ South African businesses, which could put jobs at risk, the South African government wasn’t happy.
💡 This also happened back in 2019 during the proposed merger between Fiat Chrysler and Renault. Renault’s biggest shareholder was the French government, who wanted guarantees over Renault’s jobs. Since they couldn’t reach an agreement, the deal fell through.
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