De Beers on Thursday confirmed reports that BHP has made an unsolicited bid to buy its parent company, Anglo American.
In a statement to its stakeholders on Thursday, De Beers stated that:
“following an announcement issued by Anglo American as part of its regulatory obligations, we wanted to let you know that the Anglo American Board has recently received an unsolicited, non-binding and highly conditional proposal from BHP Group Limited (“BHP”) to combine their two companies.
The proposal comprises an all-share offer for Anglo American by BHP, preceded by and conditional upon separate demergers by Anglo American of its entire shareholdings in Anglo American Platinum Limited and Kumba Iron Ore Limited to our Anglo American shareholders.”
The Anglo American Board is currently reviewing this proposal with its advisers and will decide on an appropriate response in due course.
Whilst this news may be unsettling for many in Anglo American and De Beers, it is vital that we all remain focused on our jobs. Above all, we must continue to put safety first. We have a strong Origins strategy and an important plan for 2024 which we need to deliver.
In these times, our values matter more than ever. Please keep these at the forefront of your mind as you work. If you need support, please talk to your line manager or HR team.
There will undoubtedly be a lot of media attention and speculation over the coming days and weeks. As you will appreciate, there are very strict regulatory rules in these situations which limit the level of information we can give you at this time. We will of course update you whenever we can.
Given the sensitivities relating to proposals of this nature and the regulatory restrictions relating to confidentiality, we ask that you please not be drawn into discussing this proposal with external stakeholders or commenting upon it via social media or other channels.”
