BHP drops Anglo American merger pursuit following brief talks

BHP Group Ltd on Monday confirmed it will no longer pursue a potential tie-up with London-based miner Anglo American PLC, only days after reports of renewed merger interest.

The Melbourne, Australia-based diversified miner said it held preliminary discussions with the board of Anglo but decided not to proceed further with a possible combination.

"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," the company said in a statement.

In May last year, BHP made a failed USD49 billion all‑share bid for Anglo, proposing that Anglo spin off its platinum and iron ore units before a merger. The board rejected the offer as highly conditional, and BHP later withdrew under UK takeover rules.

However, in September, Anglo announced plans to merge with Canada's Teck Resources Ltd to form Anglo Teck PLC with a majority copper focus. Anglo shareholders would hold 62.4% of the new company and Teck investors 37.6%.

Anglo is set to seek shareholder approval for the Teck merger on December 9 during its general meeting.