The Anglo-American chief says no “inevitable” buyer will emerge after the group is downsized

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The CEO of Anglo American said on Thursday it is not “inevitable” that a new buyer will emerge for the group after it sold four major parts of its business following BHP’s failed £39 billion takeover attempt.

Duncan Wanblad played down the prospects of a suitor making a bid after accelerating plans to slim down the group following its Australian rival’s hostile move, which collapsed in May.

He plans to divest Anglo De Beers’ diamond, coal, nickel and platinum units, leaving a copper, iron ore and fertilizer business at the end of the process.

Speaking at the Joburg Indaba mining conference, Wanblad said that while Anglo will generate 60 percent of its revenues from copper, this would not necessarily make copper irresistible to potential buyers, as some analysts had speculated.

“I don’t believe this is inevitable at all,” he said. “To the extent that we are valued in the context of the sum of our parts and fully valued, we will be a very viable, standalone company.”

Wanblad said the company is still on track to complete the restructuring next year, but cannot predict what will happen next.

“I can’t say what other people are going to do from a corporate action perspective, and I don’t really care. What matters to me is that the strategy is delivered,” he said.

This underlined the sentiment he expressed at the Financial Times Mining Summit in London last week, where he said that if Anglo were to become a takeover target, potential buyers would have to pay “the right amount” for the company.

Anglo’s share price has fallen about 12 percent since BHP made its takeover bid in April.

After the split, Anglo would be a much smaller player, with a streamlined portfolio focused on commodities that analysts say have much better prospects.

Wanblad said Anglo’s remaining businesses “provide a very attractive option for what the world will desperately need in the coming decades.”

This view is shared by its rivals, such as BHP, who expect copper demand to rise in the coming years as copper is crucial to the clean energy transition.

Anglo’s copper assets were at the center of BHP’s bid – and some experts expect the company to make another bid for the business.

However, takeover rules provide for a six-month cooling-off period, meaning BHP cannot make a new offer until November 29.