JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -Anglo American has agreed to sell a 33.3% stake in a joint venture that owns a 70% interest in the Jellinbah East and Lake Vermont steelmaking coal mines in Australia, for A$1.6 billion ($1.1 billion).
The deal marks the beginning of Anglo’s wider plan to restructure its business by selling and divesting unwanted assets after fighting off a $49 billion takeover bid from larger rival BHP Group in May this year.
Anglo said in a statement on Monday that it would sell one third of Jellinbah Group – the operator of the Queensland-based mines – to Zashvin Ltd, an Australian electric power generation facility operator that already owns a one-third interest in the mines.
Anglo has also advanced the sale of the rest of its steelmaking coal mines in Australia and is on track to agree terms in the coming months, CEO Duncan Wanblad said in the statement.
The miner is racing to sell coking coal mines in Australia and nickel assets in Brazil while spinning off platinum mines in South Africa. Anglo is also weighing whether to sell or separately list its De Beers diamonds unit as it shifts focus to copper, iron ore and a fertiliser business.
The company’s world-class copper assets in Latin America have made the miner a target of bigger rivals seeking increased exposure to the important green energy transition metal.
Anglo has set an ambitious plan to raise copper output at the mines in Chile and Peru to about 1 million metric tons by 2030.
BHP last week did not rule out renewing its pursuit of the London-listed miner, with a six-month block on another approach set to expire at the end of November.
Anglo shares in London rose as much as 2% in early morning trade.
($1 = 1.5156 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Felix Njini in Johannesburg, Prerna Bedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema, Kirsten Donovan)
