Anglo American Scours for Opportunities to Join Copper Dealmaking Surge

Anglo American Plc is keeping close tabs on renewed copper deal-making to see if and when it could jump in, a company official said, without ruling out a bid for Teck Resources Ltd. assets.

(Bloomberg) — Anglo American Plc is keeping close tabs on renewed copper deal-making to see if and when it could jump in, a company official said, without ruling out a bid for Teck Resources Ltd. assets.

“We are interested in looking for opportunities — it could be Teck or it could be another,” Patricio Hidalgo, the head of Anglo Chile, said Tuesday in an interview in Santiago. “But conditions must be in line with our strategy and purposes first.” 

Large mining companies attending a conference in the Chilean capital this week are scouring for assets as new deposits get pricier and trickier to develop and demand accelerates in the clean-energy transition. Some are evaluating potential bids for Teck’s base metals business if the Canadian miner successfully spins out its coal assets and fends off a $23 billion takeover proposal from Glencore Plc, according to people familiar with the discussions. 

Read More: Freeport, Vale, Anglo Are Said to Eye Teck Metals Operations

Speaking to reporters in Santiago Tuesday, BHP Group President Minerals Americas Ragnar Udd said M&A is just one of a number of growth levers for the Melbourne-based mining giant. 

“We’re always scrutinizing different assets,” Udd said, when asked about any interest in Teck. “At this point our focus is on copper commodities more broadly, but nothing that I’d like to comment on at this point on Teck.”

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.