Australian resources firm BHP has withdrawn its takeover offer for UK-South African mining firm Anglo American despite a request for more time to discuss a possible deal.
BHP had submitted a total of three takeover offers to Anglo American but they were all declined for significantly undervaluing Anglo American and its future prospects. All offers came with the same requirement for Anglo American to complete two separate demergers of its entire shareholdings in Anglo American Platinum and Kumba Iron Ore, its assets in South Africa, to Anglo American shareholders.
The final offer was proposed on 20 May at [£38.6bn ($49.1bn)]($49.1bn), with the previous two offers at £31bn and £34bn, respectively.
BHP has reiterated its intention to share in the cost associated that may be imposed as part of South African regulatory approvals and proposed some measures to "mitigate perceived value and completion uncertainty and ensure that any costs are not borne disproportionately by Anglo American shareholders", including sharing in the costs of increased South African employee ownership of South African businesses and maintaining current staff levels at Anglo American's Johannesburg office.
"While we believed that our proposal for Anglo American was a compelling opportunity to effectively grow the pie of value for both sets of shareholders, we were unable to reach agreement with Anglo American on our specific views in respect of South African regulatory risk and cost," BHP said.
Anglo American remained firm in its stance that its "shareholders will benefit from value transparency and undiluted exposure to a simpler portfolio of world class assets, consistently stronger operational performance and highly attractive growth in copper, premium iron ore and crop nutrients". It also said that it "has set out a clear pathway to accelerate delivery of its strategy and to unlock significant value for its shareholders".
