Royal Mail shareholders braced for final takeover offers

Deals this month could see the UK’s two most prominent companies, including Anglo American, falling into foreign ownership

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Shareholders in Royal Mail’s owner and in the mining company Anglo American are awaiting a final deadline on Wednesday for firm offers that could see two of the UK’s most prominent companies fall into foreign ownership.

Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský has made an approach to International Distributions Services (IDS), which runs Royal Mail, while Australia’s BHP is trying to buy its rival Anglo American, a stalwart of London’s FTSE 100 index.