Anglo American (AAL.L) on Tuesday laid out a strategic review that includes a potential break-up of the company by demerging or selling its steelmaking coal, nickel, diamonds and platinum businesses as it tries to fend off a takeover bid from the world's largest miner BHP Group (BHP.AX).
The announcement comes a day after the London-listed miner rejected a raised $43 billion offer from BHP, saying it continued to significantly undervalue the company and was "highly unattractive" for its shareholders.
In a statement on Tuesday, Anglo said it was going to divest its steelmaking coal assets, demerge its platinum unit in South Africa, explore options for its nickel mines, and divest or demerge diamonds business De Beers.
"We expect that a radically simpler business will deliver sustainable incremental value creation through a step change in operational performance and cost reduction," Anglo CEO Duncan Wanblad said.
Anglo has been meeting investors since BHP's initial approach in April and after a review of all of its assets initiated in February in response to a 94% plunge in annual profit and writedowns at its diamond and nickel operations.
On Tuesday, the London-listed miner also said it will slow the development of its Woodsmith fertiliser project in northeast England and then look for strategic partners, spending $200 million in 2025, down from a previously estimated $1 billion and no capital spending in 2026.
BHP had offered Anglo American shareholders 27.53 pounds per share, up from 25.08 pounds previously. Anglo shares were up about 0.4% at 27.17 pounds by 0710 GMT.
($1 = 0.7966 pounds)
