Rejig is more radical than anything Anglo has tried in recent past but Australian miner could make fresh bid
Get rid of the bad bits, keep the good ones. Anglo American’s defence strategy cannot be called original – especially as half of it is borrowed from the approach of the would-be bidder, BHP. One could also ask why, since Anglo has been simplifying itself for about two decades already, its board required the heat of a £34bn takeover battle to discover more urgency.
But there is a genuine plus in the mix: Anglo’s breakup plan is plainly more radical than anything it has attempted in the recent past. It also achieves the first requirement of a quasi-defence document by putting the onus on the bidder to come up with a real bid or shut up.
